A feud in Burnage and the bad omens for Manchester's new politics

As Sir Richard Leese stands down as leader, we reveal more about the infighting that led to Monday's exclusive about a suspended councillor

Dear members — ever since we revealed that a senior Manchester councillor had been suspended by the Labour party, we’ve been learning more about the bitter infighting behind the story. Today we can report who made the allegation of homophobia against Rabnawaz Akbar, and why the “vicious” reselection process in Burnage might spell bad news for the council’s new leader Bev Craig.

Craig is taking over the leadership of the city as we send this edition of The Mill. In a full meeting of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese just stepped down as leader after 25 years. Craig thanked Leese for his tenure but she also said that Manchester should be confident enough to talk about its failings and about the fact that not everyone is sharing in its recent success. We’ve got more about Craig in our mini-briefing, and more about the problems she may face in our main story.

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