#AskGMMayor: Interim Mayor Tony Lloyd to take part in Twitter Q&As

The people of Greater Manchester are getting the chance to ask Interim Greater Manchester Mayor Tony Lloyd about the issues that matter most to them in a series of live Twitter Q&A sessions over the coming weeks.

Tony will next be online answering questions from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Twitter account at midday on Monday 8 February. Members of the public can send in their queries at any point until the event concludes at 1.30pm by including #AskGMMayor in their tweets.

The first Q&A took place this Monday, with Tony fielding questions on a wide variety of issues, ranging from affordable housing and support for science and engineering skills to the future of transport in the region and reducing use of fossil fuels to combat climate change. Tony concluded the event by announcing the date of the first Mayoral election, which has been set for Thursday 4 May 2017.

The Q&A is the latest step in a drive to bring the work of the GMCA online with the aim of involving local residents in the work and decisions carried out on their behalf at a Greater Manchester level. Members of the public can now watch live streams of major meetings and access meeting agendas, minutes, reports and informal policy papers on the new GMCA website after its launch in October 2015.

Tony said: ‘Since becoming Mayor, I have spoken with people at events across Greater Manchester to hear their views on the work we are doing to improve the lives of everyone in the region. I am delighted to have the opportunity to widen this conversation to include the many thousands of residents with Twitter accounts."

"The scale of the new powers coming to local leaders and the big changes we want to make happen mean that people are bound to have questions about where Greater Manchester is going under devolution. I hope this Monday’s Q&A will be one of many such occasions where I can provide the answers to allow everyone to feel confident about our future."

Tony was appointed as Interim GM Mayor by local authority leaders in June 2015. He combines the role with the position of Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner to which he was elected in 2012 after almost three decades as an MP. As Interim Mayor, Tony chairs meetings of the GMCA and works with GMCA members to oversee the reforms of public services and efforts to create economic growth under the Greater Manchester Strategy. GM’s first directly-elected Mayor will take office following the region-wide vote in 2017.