Dear Millers β as you try to cool down from a scorching Mancunian day, try to imagine yourself squeezed into the Friends' Meeting House on Mount Street, cheek by jowl with your fellow Mill readers, sweating not just over the heat but also about the future of the city.
Does that sound appealing? Good, because in just 17 days, we are hosting the social and political event of the summer: The Mill Mayoral Hustings!
It will take place just three days before polling day, and many believe the performance of the candidates at this event may well decide who succeeds Andy Burnham as mayor. Any slip up will be seized upon by the Millers, the most knowledgeable and influential crowd in the North.
In the hosting chair will be noted Burnhamologist Joshi Herrmann, founder of The Mill, and our staff writer Lucy McLaughlin. And instead of asking the candidates vague questions about "their plans for the city", Joshi and Lucy will be using The Mill's journalism to challenge the mayoral wannabes on key issues we have reported on over the past few years.
- How will they make the Bee Network finances add up?
- Will they appoint unaccountable advisors who become mired in scandal?
- What are their practical plans to tackle homelessness?
We've already booked four of the candidates so far and we're just waiting for Labour's Bev Craig and Restore's Marlon West to confirm. Joshi met Craig on a reporting trip in Prestwich this morning and reported back that the leader of Manchester City Council is "trying to make the diaries work" to attend. If you have any influence in Bev World, please use it impress on her the importance of this hustings.
Geraldine Coggins (Greens), Sian Astley (Reform), Phil Eckersley (Conservatives) and Richard Kilpatrick (Lib Dems) are already signed up, and The Mill understands that several of them have hired expensive campaign consultants to prepare them for the evening.
β‘ The Mill's Greater Manchester Mayoral Hustings β‘
π
Monday 27th July: Doors, 18.20. (6:45pm start, lasting approx. 90 minutes)
πFriends' Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester, M2 5NS
π Tickets: Public Β£5 // Members Β£3
The discussion will be chaired by Joshi Herrmann and Lucy McLaughlin
This is the start of a new chapter for Greater Manchester and so the hustings isn't just about the candidates: it's about the issues that will shape the city region going forward. You'll get the chance to submit your own questions in the days before the event. We'll even have an expert on hand to explain the brand new voting system and how votes get reallocated in the second round.
If you have any questions, drop us a line at info@millmediaco.uk.
