Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has shouted out The Courteeners in his victory speech after winning a second term – watch footage below.
Burnham won 67.3 per cent of the vote in the city as votes from this week’s elections came in yesterday (May 8).
When giving his victory speech, the Mayor took time to quote The Courteeners’ most famous lyric, from their hit ‘Not Nineteen Forever’.
“God bless the band,” he told the crowd and cameras, adding: “If you know, you know…”
See footage below:
Big shout out to Andy Burnham
@thecourteeners #GodBlessTheBand ‘if you know, you know’
pic.twitter.com/e54FADbaXn
— Conrad Murray (@ConradMurray) May 9, 2021
Elsewhere in this week’s elections, Labour’s Sadiq Khan was re-elected for a second term as Mayor of London.
Khan, who has been Mayor since 2016, beat Conservative rival Shaun Bailey to the win, with The Green Party’s Sian Berry in third ahead of Liberal Democrats candidate Luisa Porritt.
Khan, the Labour candidate, picked up 55.2 per cent of the popular vote, winning a 228,000-vote majority. Bailey’s score of 44.8 per cent was a 1.6 per cent increase on the Tories’ vote share.
Speaking at City Hall following his victory, Khan said: “I will always be a mayor for all Londoners, working to improve the lives of every single person in this city.
“The results of the elections around the UK shows our country, and even our city, remains deeply divided. The scars of Brexit have yet to heal. A crude culture war is pushing us further apart.”
Labour also won mayoral elections in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and more, while the Conservatives made gains in many councils across the country, adding over 200 councillors.
The other big story came on Friday (May 7), when the Tories surprisingly won the Hartlepool by-election from Labour.
Courteeners frontman Liam Fray, meanwhile, has opened his own restaurant in Manchester. Fray has partnered with The Liars Club (located on Back Bridge Street) and TNQ’s Jobe Ferguson, as well as Anthony Fielden (also of TNQ) for the venture.
The Smithfield Social, which pays homage to the historic Smithfield Market, will serve brunches until 4pm every day – with dishes including breakfast brioche rolls with treacle-cured streaky bacon, chorizo and grilled feta with eggs, hash browns with truffle mayo and black pudding patties.
Last December, The Courteeners appeared in a new documentary celebrating the music scene of Greater Manchester, Manchester Music Then and Now: Music Worth Fighting For. They appeared alongside members of Blossoms, New Order, Happy Mondays and more.
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