Dear readers — Sunday, as we’re sure you’re all aware, saw the brief, brief return of barbecue weather, and no one jumped on the opportunity faster than our mayor Andy Burnham.
But who was manning the grill?
That’s just one of many important, moving, and (moderately) gossipy items in today’s extra-special briefing, which for the first time ever features a members-only segment. The Mill team have spent the last working week (and indeed the weekend) speaking to every insider we know, fishing everywhere we can for information on who’ll be standing for mayor in the event that Burnham stands down. So today we bring you this: The Mill’s Official Mayoral Predictions for 2026. That’s right at the very bottom of today’s newsletter. We’re sure you’ll find it eye-opening.
But that’s not all. Today being the 30th anniversary of the Manchester Bomb, we’ll be directing your attention back to our incredible two-part weekend read, where veteran war correspondent Toby Harden gave us the most thorough account of the bombing to date.
Also on the menu is a little and long-overdue update on the sex lives of Mancunians, plus the weather, and the latest edition of our new segment: ‘Thing of the Week’. We hope you enjoy all of it.
Breathtaking opera in the Peak District
Every year, Buxton International Festival puts on some of the very best opera in Britain. In 2026, their two lead operas, La traviata and The Merry Widow are set to be sell-outs with tickets being snapped up fast.
Take a trip to 19th-century Paris with Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata for a fresh take on the classic tale of forbidden love, sacrifice and social prejudice. Or let Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow transport you to 1950s Manhattan, for a deliciously rich comedy of bankruptcy, infidelity, and social climbing.
Whether you’re a long-time opera lover or looking to try something new this summer, escape the city and head to Buxton for an evening at the opera – grab your tickets below. With over 160 stellar events, there’s a show for everyone.
Interested in sponsoring The Mill? Get in touch.
Job alert: Mill Media is hiring a Senior Editor to work on some of our biggest stories and join the most exciting team in British journalism. Please share the link with talented friends.
Memories of the Manchester bomb, 30 years on
Our two-part piece re-investigating the 1996 bombing of Manchester by the IRA has been brilliantly received by readers, from former British squaddies to the editor of the Sunday Times’s Insight investigations team. Today marks 30 years since the bomb, and below are some of the responses we got from readers, sharing their stories of that day:
“I was the head chef at Via Fossa and getting ready for the usual busy Saturday. We got evacuated to the edge of the cordon which was by the Swinging Sporran. There were rumours and counter rumours of more bombs - as many as six but it didn’t seem to phase anybody.” Robert Pegg
“Welled up and felt icy chills reading this incredible piece of work. My husband was nearby when the bomb exploded, successfully evacuated. Thank god, I was oblivious at home with our new baby. You have given me more insight into the bigger picture than anyone ever has.” Liz Leather
“My mum had been in Manchester early, to take something back to M&S, but thankfully had left before the warning call. She had heard the bomb go off whilst hanging out washing in our garden in Chadderton, a few miles from the city centre.” Louise Sharf
Please do share any further memories in the comments below.
Manchester: amateur porn capital of the UK
A BBC documentary airing at 9pm tonight identifies Manchester as an OnlyFans epicentre of the UK (for the uninitiated, OnlyFans is a paid subscription service, used mostly for pornography). The doc – titled OnlyFans: Inside the Machine – traces Manchester's OnlyFans-fever back to a mansion in Hale converted into a makeshift studio, and of course to the various high rises of Deansgate, well-known for being adult content hubs.
The documentary takes a dark turn, however, when it covers the lesser-known subject of OnlyFans managers, who pressure models into filming increasingly explicit content and even take extra work as escorts, all while taking up to 70% of their pay. One model in the documentary allegedly had two masked men come to her door and attack her after she tried to leave her management company.
And indeed the proliferation of adult content creators in Manchester can now be found in plain sight: over the weekend, OnlyFans creator Kayleigh Wanless parked her ‘fake ambulance’ outside Victoria Station. No prizes for guessing what happens inside.
We have wanted to do a feature on Manchester’s OnlyFans scene for a while now, so if you know anything about it, get in touch with us here.
Can Manchesterthum save the nation?
Isaac Rose, author of The Rentier City (as reviewed by The Mill at the time) is here in the New Statesman writing about the fastest growing field of academic study in the UK: Manchesterism. Not unlike Joshi’s piece a few weeks ago, Rose is highly suspicious of the concept, and Andy Burnham’s notion that it might be a rejection of what he sees to be a failed neoliberal consensus stretching back to Margaret Thatcher. On the contrary, Rose writes, the present Manchester agenda is an “exemplar case” of neoliberalism and a lost cousin of the term used by 19th century Germans to describe the “laissez-faire free trade liberalism” of that era: Manchesterthum.
This week’s weather
This from Martin Miles: Even though there will still be some rain, our weather will be much warmer this week and a lot more like June.
Tuesday 🌦️ Pleasantly warm with bright spells and just the odd shower for a large part of the day. Light winds. Max 22°c.
Wednesday 🌦️ Breezy with large amounts of cloud and a few showers, although feeling warm again. Max 22°c.
Thursday 🌦️ Dry during the morning but turning more mixed later with bright spells and heavy showers. Max 24°c.
Friday 🌦️ Mostly cloudy and warm with scattered heavy showers, mainly later in the afternoon. Breezy. Max 24°c.
Weekend 🌦️ Seasonably warm but still changeable. Turning more settled with a rise in temperature as well.
So: who’s filling Burnham’s boots (and who’s grilling his sausages)?
Now here’s the bit of the briefing you’ve all been waiting for: The Mill’s predictions of who will be standing in the upcoming mayoral race, should it upcome. While national-media-eyes have been on the Makerfield by-election, we’ve been dialling every number in our phone books trying to work out who’s in the running for the by-election to follow. Here’s what we’re hearing.
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