After 14 years of Tory rule, is Manchester any Greater?

Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United were within touching distance of becoming the football champions of England for the nineteenth time when voters went to the polls 14 years ago in a general election that changed the course of British history.

Greater Manchester has changed in so many ways since 2010. The city's skyline, for one thing, has been totally transformed. Huge inequalities prevail within our city-region. A man born in Oldham can expect to live in good health for 10 years less than one born in Trafford, while in Salford, women in the most deprived neighbourhoods can expect to live 11 years less than in wealthier parts.

Since 2010, Manchester council's core spending power has been cut by 34 per cent when adjusted for inflation. That is a loss of £312.5m a year - nearly £761 per person, which is actually a cut of 42 per cent when you account for the city's growing population. Poverty Choices between heating and eating have become more common across the country, with record numbers of people now relying on emergency food parcels. The number of children living in relative poverty - nearly four in 10 in Manchester - is also at a record high.

Sadly, since his successful campaign, the situation has got worse. Earlier this year, a report by Child Poverty Action Group found that nearly one in ten children in Greater Manchester - 46,000 kids in total - are living in poverty but are not entitled to free school meals. This was not the only change in the welfare system over the last 14 years that has had repercussions in Greater Manchester. The 'bedroom tax', which came into effect in 2013, meant that council and social housing tenants with a spare room had benefits cut too.

However, in the years that followed, many decisions by the Department for Work and Pensions were being overturned. In 2019, Bolton council revealed that almost four in every five cases that the town hall took on resulted in residents' benefits being reinstated. Over the last few years, another row over benefits has been brewing. Until a few months ago, Local Housing Allowance had been frozen since 2020, despite charities, campaigners and council bosses calling for an urgent uplift to prevent a rise in homelessness.

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