No other British conurbation has changed as much as Manchester in the last 40 years. When I first went there in the early 1980s, I remember thinking how hollowed out it felt compared with Liverpool, where I was then a student. Sure, there were some good pubs, the Hacienda was just opening, Rusholme was good for a curry and Didsbury was an attractive neighborhood. But that was it. Checking this the other day I discovered that the number of people estimated to be living in the city centre then was no more than about 500; now it's 100,000.
That extraordinary turnaround is one of the most visible successes of Manchesterism, which as a system has five core characteristics: clarity of vision; stability of leadership; determination/bloody mindedness; pragmatism; and collaboration. All this with a relentless focus on urban densification and regeneration; connecting people to work through metrolink; growth and reform as two sides of the same coin, meaning equal priority on commercial and human capital development; and ruthless courting of foreign investment to drive major projects.
The clarity of purpose was there from the 1980s onwards with the 1982 City Centre Local Plan, then the 2008 Manchester Independent Economic Review and now Andy Burnham's Greater Manchester Strategy 2025-35. These have been the foundations for the work of GM and its partners for over 40 years. There has also been stability of leadership, starting with Graham Stringer in the 1980s, through the pivotal figures of Sir Howard Bernstein and Sir Richard Leese the twin architects of the Manchester revival, to Andy Burnham and Bev Craig as the modern faces of the devolution story. This is a place that has taken political leadership and public management equally seriously and has built a critical mass of talented politicians and officers.
Then there is the sheer bloody-minded determination to succeed, combined with a willingness to take risks, and to use public investment to achieve this. This single mindedness is matched with ruthless pragmatism. Graham Stringer embodied this when he pivoted away from the hard left in the early 1980s, in the 90s Manchester's Labour leadership worked with Conservatives John Major and Lord Heseltine and in the 2010s with George Osborne. All this combined with what Andy Burnham calls ‘business friendly socialism', working with investors and businesses to boost the city's economy.
Above all the Manchester model has been based on collaboration. Long before devolution, the seven Met Councils worked closely with each other as an economic system to drive investment and growth. This partnership stretched across party lines and economic geography, with key figures like Peter Smith the Lib Dem Leader of Wigan playing a critical role. Andy Burnham's success as a Mayor has been in part down to his continued support for this collaborative model, unlike Boris Johnson who when Mayor of London made a point of governing against rather than with London Councils. When Andy Burnham launched his Makerfield campaign in Leeds he made a point of explicitly recognising the crucial role of local councils and the need to boost their capacity, which augurs well for his approach should he become PM.
So what has all this delivered? City densification certainly. The most rapid economic and productivity growth of any UK city, and growth that, as Metro Dynamics research has shown, has benefitted all parts of the conurbation where metrolink track has been laid. There are still challenges, but the most recent wave of Burnham-led policy has been designed to tackle these; extending growth beyond the core to Atom Valley; and tackling ill health and economic inactivity through the prevention demonstrator. In recent years this has been complemented with a sharper focus on people's priorities such as with the totemic Bee Network, and its £2 bus fares.
Will this continue with Andy Burnham in Westminster? It should do. The roots of Manchesterism lie very deep, with local politicians and public service leaders who are deeply committed to its core principles and who are already working on what comes next. Perhaps most of all there are the 100,000 people living at the centre of this, whose economic and social dynamism can be the lifeforce that shapes Manchester's future.
Ben Lucas is chair of the Growth and Reform Network and founding director of Metro Dynamics
