“I grew up in Queens, New York. There we could see Manhattan but had litter, drugs and crime. The same thing is happening in this part of Salford; the streets are torn up, we have a major drugs problem and we can see the gleaming city from Greengate, but get none of the resources from it, just problems.”
Brian Westley, a Liberal Democrat candidate for Blackfriars and Trinity, speaks with a distinct American accent. He lives with his husband, Gavin, with whom he campaigned for same-sex marriage rights before and under Tony Blair’s Labour government and is the proud adoptive father of a Ukrainian refugee.
This context places him at the centre of the divisive social issues which feature in the headlines of tabloid newspapers, stocked in Salford corner shops each day. Yet, over a coffee within a quiet café beneath shimmering high rises in the affluent Greengate area of his ward, Westley said he is focused on making incremental improvements to a “creaking neighbourhood that’s been neglected for too long by Labour.”
He said that begins with “fixing road issues caused by development” in an area where at least seven large occupancy high-rise buildings have been greenlighted over the last nine years. “We have had 5,000 people move to Greengate in the last 5 years,” Westley explained. “That’s explosive growth that’s brought in £10 million in extra council tax revenue, but we are not getting extra resources from the council.”
Is Westley alluding to section 106 money, secured from developers as part of planning permissions being granted, which can be used by the council to fund schools, affordable homes, transport infrastructure, healthcare provision, and sports facilities? “Yes, Salford council has £8 million of section 106 money and the only thing we’ve seen in the ward was £1.1 million being spent on Chapel Street.”
The café Westley was drinking a coffee in sits below flats rented by residents in the top 40 per cent least deprived by postcode in the country. According to him, Labour are inclined to redistribute funds generated by rapid development in the richer area neighbouring Manchester to the less wealthy areas of Salford. He accepts that the more deprived parts need investment but feels residents in this area bear an undue share of the cost.
“The people who live in Greengate are new career, aspiring to live here with two roommates and are struggling to pay the rent,” he explained that young professionals wanting to live on the border of Manchester often tell him: “I pay council tax band B or C but don’t see the benefit with high management fees and rent.”
The local election hopeful noted that developers reference a place closer to home when marketing flash Greengate apartments. “They call it the Brooklyn of Salford. We have some of the wealthiest people in Greengate, but then some of the poorest, most deprived in Blackfriars and Trinity on the other side of the Trinity Way divide.
“There you’re in the bottom 10 per cent in terms of deprivation, and here in Greengate you’re in the top 10. We have a soup kitchen in Black Friars and Trinity. Here, there are master apartments.”
Returning to his stateside analogy, he outlined a vision for the region: “I want to connect the two and bridge that gap so one area actually intersects with the other, rather than those living in Blackfriars seeing Greengate as Manhattan, the shining beacon on the hill.”
The energy consultant explained he has taken three months off in the lead-up to the 7 May elections to focus on his campaign. “It’s funny now because I never had any political ambitions,” he recalled. “It started with a problem with drugs in the apartment opposite and litter in the area.
“I was woken up to the fact that it’s really dirty around here. Four years ago, I was expecting to report the problem to the council, but they told me I had to litter pick myself. So, I started and litter-picked my way into the city.
“Then the spark for me to be more of a community leader came when we had drugs opposite Blackfriars Park.”
He said university accommodation in the area was sold to a housing association, after which vulnerable, unsupported residents moved in, leading to an increase in anti-social behaviour and drug use. “We spent about six months trying to notify the councillor that we had a problem, only to find they lived in Swinton.”
Westley produced a leaflet designed to resemble a ballot paper, featuring Green candidate David Jones, Labour’s Darren Matthews, Reform’s Christopher Roscoe and Conservative Craig Russell Walsh. He is the only candidate to list his Tudbury Way address.
“The others can’t put their address on because they don’t live in the ward,” he said. “I’m proud to live here, and it means I know first-hand the issues affecting people in the area.” Both Matthews and Walsh say they are residents in the ward.
It is nearly two years since the general election in which Labour secured the largest landslide this century with 411 seats and 33.7% of the popular vote. The party’s triumph was reflected locally as Labour trio Rebecca Long-Bailey, Michael Wheeler and Yasmin Qureshi all comfortably won seats in the Commons.
Now, they are heading into the local elections fourth in the opinion polls behind Reform, the Conservatives and the Green Party. They are led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose approval rating has sunk to – 42% since he moved into 10 Downing Street.
It is against that challenging backdrop that Salford Mayor Paul Dennett said Labour candidates must work to communicate “what we have achieved in recent times.”
Their first major test, a Barton and Winton by-election on 22 April, offered little Labour optimism as they suffered a chastening loss to Reform candidate Michael Felse. As the challenging parties across Salford begin to believe they can topple Labour’s dominance of the authority, Westley and the Liberal Democrats should be primed to make inroads at the ballot box on 7 May.
But while the party jumped from 11 to 72 seats in the last general election, it remains to be seen whether the Liberal Democrats’ unshowy championing of community politics can cut through as louder, more vocal parties make headway.
In 2024, the Liberal Democrat representative Stuart Oxbrow came a distant fourth behind Labour candidate Jane Hamilton. However, Westley explained that more resources have been used to target this area, and he is confident in overturning the significant deficit from two years ago.
“This is the third ward in Salford that we are going to win,” he said. “We have proved that we can come from fourth to first in the ward bordering this one (Salford Quays) and that’s the logical flow of targeting Blackfriars and Trinity, we believe we can win it.”
To add his name to the list of Liberal Democrat councillors, Westley will have to overcome five other candidates when voters in the ward head to the polls on 7 May.
Labour candidate Darren Matthews is tasked with defending a seat in an area they have long been dominant in following the resignation of Roseanna Wain last year.
He told Salford Now: “We hope to introduce some new initiatives with our local kids to keep them off the street and reduce anti-social behaviour.
“We’ve got a really great youth club, ‘Salford Youth Zone’, I think we need to do more to entice our kids in there and introduce life skills, job skills and introduce them to sports and new hobbies,” he added, identifying the Pendleton-based community centre as a blueprint to follow for investment in similar facilities in the ward.
Green Party candidate David Jones came second two years ago in Blackfriars and Trinity with 24.8% of the vote.
He said: “I was born and raised in Lower Broughton and still live here today – six decades later. I’m a graduate of Salford University, with academic qualifications in environmental sciences BSc (hons) and sustainable energy technologies MSc.
“I have worked on environmental and energy projects across Europe. I’ve been a Green Party member for well over a decade and been the Blackfriars & Trinity candidate since 2021 and was most recently our General Election candidate for the Worsley & Eccles constituency and our Salford City Mayoral candidate in 2024.”
Jones has focused part of his campaign on “protecting renters’ rights” by pledging to bring all property management companies into a licensing scheme.
“I will strengthen residents-only parking permissions to ensure the ward isn’t turned into a car park for commuters to Manchester City Centre and combine bin emptying and road sweeping for cleaner streets,” he added.
Craig Walsh, the Conservative candidate standing in the ward, said: “I am excited to stand and to serve and advocate for the safe and clean environment for all residents.
“I am committed to never giving up on finding a solution and building a strong relationship with senior council officers and our neighbourhood team so I can effectively represent the interests of our residents and make a positive impact in our ward.
“As a long-time resident of Blackfriars, I am familiar with the challenges and concerns faced by our community. With your support, we can work together to make our ward a pleasant and secure place to live.”
Reform were contacted for comment about Christopher Roscoe’s campaign but did not respond.
Voters are reminded that they will need to take ID to the polling stations in order to vote. Polls will be open from 7 am until 10pm on 7 May.
The list of candidates standing in Salford’s 7 May local elections is available here.
Great to see someone running with a track record of making positive changes in the area, in LibDem Brian.