Bev Craig

Bev Craig is a Labour councillor in Burnage, Manchester, England, and Leader of Manchester City Council.^[1] As leader she is also a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and is the combined authority's portfolio lead for Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth.^[2]

Craig was elected Leader of Manchester City Council by the ruling Labour group of councillors in October 2021, and took over from Sir Richard Leese at a full meeting of the council when he retired on 1 December 2021.^[3]

Craig comes from Belfast and is the city council’s first female and LGBT leader. She grew up on a council estate just outside Belfast and moved to Manchester from Northern Ireland in 2003. She told the BBC: "I grew up in social housing and my family still rely on it. I know the value of [what] the safety net of a good quality home can give you when times are tough." and that she wanted "to reach a point where me being a woman and being gay is entirely uninteresting and unremarkable".^[4]

She graduated from Manchester University in 2007 with a degree in politics and modern history and later gaining a postgraduate in Local Government Management from Warwick Business School and a MA in public policy and governance from Manchester University, both while she had a full-time job. She has had jobs across local government, higher education and working for the trade union UNISON.