Commenting on the news, Cllr Jim King, Chair of Co-operative Party North West Region said:

We are delighted to announce that Tony Lloyd has been selected by the Co-op Party Greater Manchester as their preferred candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor.

At a packed meeting in Manchester where Co-op Party members listened to three strong candidates and after an exhaustive ballot decide to support Tony Lloyd.

In response to a question all three candidates promised to establish a ‘Minister for Co-ops and Mutualism’ in Greater Manchester.

In his statement to Party members in advance of the selection meeting, Tony Lloyd said:

I was born and bred in Greater Manchester, I care passionately about the people I represent. I’ve been a member of the Co-operative Party most of my life.  The ethos of the Co-operative is central to my own political philosophy and is one Labour should share.

I have supported the development of a Co-op by ex-offenders providing employment opportunities in cleaning and gardening services and introduced a social value policy for use in GMP procurement which promotes contracting with the not for profit and social enterprise sectors.

Together there’s so much more we can achieve.

I will be a Mayor who makes it happen:

• Building decent homes Greater Manchester people can afford, breathing new life into communities.
• Making sure Greater Manchester has the truly integrated health and care people deserve. Moving away from a privatised market system to a people focused NHS where treatment and care are about the person not the building.
• Working with learners, teachers and employers to design a fair deal for everyone: a training and apprenticeship system that gives our people the skills to succeed and businesses the staff they need.
• A transport system Greater Manchester people can rely on. Making the buses work for us not business fat cats, setting routes that suit our communities and rebalance fares so that young people and the poorest communities don’t pay the most.
• I’ll keep fighting to ensure we have safer neighbourhoods with a GMP that is reflective of the diverse communities it represents.