As voters go to the polls on Thursday in Greater Manchester, Sian Astley faces an uphill battle to win for Nigel Farage’s Reform party in city region race after Andy Burnham’s departure
She’s starred in DIY SOS, now mayoral hopeful Sian Astley is bidding to fix what she claims is a “one-party state” in Greater Manchester.
But the Reform UK candidate faces an uphill battle to wrestle control away from Labour after Andy Burnham’s departure. With the new PM settling in at Number 10, voters go to the polls on Thursday to choose his successor as mayor for the city region.
Astley is one of seven candidates looking to fill Burnham’s post in what is the biggest by-election in UK history as more than two million people are eligible to vote.
Labour’s Bev Craig – leader of Manchester City Council – is heading for victory, with Astley second in estimated first preference votes, YouGov polling published earlier this month suggests. When it comes to projected second round voting, the Reform hopeful falls even further behind. However, the contest is not yet over. So just who is Astley and what are her plans for Greater Manchester?
The 56-year-old, who leads Reform UK’s group on Manchester City Council, has made a name for herself on TV screens. As well as being on DIY SOS: The Big Build, the interior designer has also appeared on BBC show, Your Home Made Perfect. Over two decades ago, she even locked horns with TV presenter Sarah Beeny on Channel 4 show Property Ladder.
Astley, whose other half is a retired firefighter, also runs property firm Moregeous. She studied law at the University of Manchester, but later told a luxury property publication: “When I graduated, I quickly realised I didn’t have the funds to become a solicitor or lawyer.
“Instead I ended up working for a cavity wall tie company… From there, I managed to secure a grant from Prince’s Trust to set up my own company, Home Checker. I then purchased my first house with a 100% mortgage for £1 – you used to be able to do that. Working on the property made me realise that the building industry was absolutely where I wanted to be.”
Her experience in the political arena is limited; she only became a councillor in May. But, already, the Reform hopeful is no stranger to controversy. In May, writing on Facebook, she argued: “Personally I’d just ensure the Green voters, uniparty MPs (present or past) and Cllrs house the illegal criminals, rapists and economic chancers, so it’s nice of Reform UK to offer to build accommodation instead.”
It came after Reform UK announced, if it won power, immigration detention centres would not be put in seats held by the party’s MPs or where it controlled councils.
This month, Astley stood by her comments, telling the Manchester Evening News: “If you are an advocate for open borders then you are opening up this country to exactly that – criminals, economic chancers, rapists.”
She added: “So if you are a voter, or a councillor or a politician who advocates for open borders then maybe you should put your money where your mouth is and put those people in your constituency or your region or your house because that is what you are expecting voters in other areas to have in their lives.”
Among her manifesto policies is a pledge to “stop illegal migrants being dumped in our towns”. She also wants to “create the toughest police force in Britain” and to “stop penalising drivers”.
Speaking to the Telegraph, ex-Labour voter Astley told how she planned to run Greater Manchester like a home renovation project. She said: “If you need to go backwards a little bit and start revealing and start stripping back before you move forward, then that’s what you do to achieve the best possible outcome.”
Full list of Manchester mayoral candidates
- ASTLEY, Sian Niamh (Reform UK)
- COGGINS, Geraldine (The Green Party)
- CRAIG, Bev (Labour and Co-operative Party)
- ECKERSLEY, Phil (The Conservative Party Candidate)
- FARMER, Marcus Jonathan (Independent)
- KILPATRICK, Richard Martin (Liberal Democrats)
- WEST, Marlon Scott (Restore Britain)
