{"id":1114642,"date":"2026-07-27T18:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1114642\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T18:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:22:32","slug":"zack-polanski-says-greater-manchester-needs-change-after-burnham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1114642\/","title":{"rendered":"Zack Polanski says Greater Manchester needs change after Burnham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham has \u2018damaged\u2019 Greater Manchester with his \u2018Manchesterism\u2019, according to Zack Polanski.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Green Party leader believes its candidate for Greater Manchester mayor Geraldine Coggins can reverse that.<\/p>\n

He claims that the new Prime Minister has let private investors ride roughshod over the city-region \u2013 resulting in thousands of homes people can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n

He is confident in his \u2018exceptional\u2019 candidate, who intends to build 20,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years if she gets elected as Greater Manchester mayor on July 30.<\/p>\n

Sitting down for an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service in the Nia Centre, Hulme, Mr Polanski seemed hopeful for yet another Trafford Greens leader to take higher office.<\/p>\n

\"\"Zack Polanski talking to local press about the Green Party campaign for Greater Manchester Mayor, the prospects of our candidate Geraldine Coggins, and why the campaign is such an important test of Prime Minister Andy Burnham\u2019s government.
Picture Jason Roberts \/ Manchester Evening News<\/p>\n

The site was originally called the Hulme Hippodrome, and went on to become the first large-scale, black-led arts centre in Europe. It is now a non-profit community asset, something the Greens are hoping to see more of if they successfully get Geraldine Coggins elected come polling day.<\/p>\n

Mr Polanski said: \u201cIt\u2019s spaces that are run for people rather than solely profit. Something we\u2019ve talked about a lot in this campaign is taking Manchester back from big money.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just been walking through the streets now, just filming a video actually about the fact that skyscrapers are littering the skyline. You\u2019ve got people sleeping out on the streets, families who are turning to food banks to feed their kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we had with Andy Burnham was his so-called \u2018Manchesterism\u2019. But actually, what Manchesterism has resulted in is really just neoliberalism accelerated, which is hundreds of millions of pounds given to property developers, companies including Renaker, where in some of those developments not a single affordable home has been built.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he\u2019s saying he\u2019s planning to repeat this model for the whole of the UK, but actually, this is not what the UK needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, this election is about Greater Manchester. It\u2019s about reversing some of the damage that\u2019s been done through years of Labour running the city-region.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to explain that \u2018trickle-down economics\u2019, where investment sees money filter down, has not worked for the last 40 years. The Greens feel now is time for a different approach, where the rich don\u2019t get richer and the poor don\u2019t get poorer.<\/p>\n

He admitted what Andy Burnham has done in the city-region \u2018isn\u2019t all bad\u2019. Mr Polanski was keen on increased power for metro mayors through further devolution promised by the new Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

As a member of the London Assembly, which scrutinises the work of London mayor Sadiq Khan, he believes a similar style organisation should be brought to Greater Manchester. He believes more scrutiny should go hand in hand with higher powered decision making.<\/p>\n

More devolution would be necessary for what Geraldine Coggins has planned, with rent controls and cracking down on rogue landlords. Affordable housing is central to the Green\u2019s plans for the city-region, with the idea that cheaper rents and house prices means more money in the pockets of people.<\/p>\n

This extra cash could then be spent on growing local businesses, high street and therefore the local economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I think the answer partly is to have a publicly owned developer, which is Homes for Greater Manchester,\u201d Mr Polanski added. \u201cUltimately looking at bringing money in, but making sure that money is coming from government schemes, things like the Social and Affordable Housing Program and\u00a0 making sure we\u2019re looking at grants.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso we need to recognise one of the fundamental things that should happen both in Greater Manchester and nationally right now, which is rent controls. If we\u2019d frozen rents in 2022, the average UK renter would be saving \u00a32,400 every single year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s obvious that rent controls would save renters money. The bit that gets missed, though, is that would be saving the government \u00a32bn a year because of the amount of money that goes from government straight to private landlords through housing benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that a Green mayor on their own couldn\u2019t bring in rent controls, but they would be a huge thorn in the Labour government\u2019s side. This is because that would be another national platform where the mayor of Greater Manchester was speaking up for people in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy saying actually, freezing rents, that\u2019s more money in people\u2019s pockets, which is also good for local businesses because that\u2019s more purchasing power to have a coffee in a local caf\u00e9 or to buy a pint in the pub at the end of the work shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Green Party leader went on to make further calls to change the voting system for both general elections and the mayoral elections to proportional representation. He feels the first-past-the post system has led to political complacency.<\/p>\n

He is confident that there is enthusiasm for what the Green party is doing, with positive feedback on the ground as well as encouraging data from social media analytics. Mr Polanski claimed nine of their online adverts were performing better than 20 of Labour\u2019s online.<\/p>\n

He admitted advert views don\u2019t equal votes, but believed it shows \u2018there\u2019s an enthusiasm for a different kind of politics\u2019, which he feels Geraldine is bringing to the table.<\/p>\n

Speaking on why Greater Manchester should vote Geraldine Coggins and the Green Party, Mr Polanski added: \u201cI have no doubt in my mind that whether we pull off a major upset or whether it\u2019s just very clear that there\u2019s huge momentum for the Green Party in terms of the next Greater Manchester mayoral election, it\u2019s very clear that people are sick of Labour in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know Geraldine that well when this campaign started, and I\u2019ve been so impressed with her scrutiny ability, her attention to detail, and the way she holds herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what we\u2019ve seen for years now is politics that\u2019s performative and showy. And she\u2019s shown on social media she can do that as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she would bring a stable pair of hands, who\u2019s calm, who puts the work in, and actually has a genuine transformative vision of Greater Manchester.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full list of candidates for the Greater Manchester mayoral election, in alphabetical order, is:<\/p>\n