Reform UK’s candidate was accused of being a ‘coward’ after withdrawing from the final hustings ahead of this week’s Greater Manchester mayoral by-election.

Greater Manchester will go to the polls on Thursday to choose a new mayor following the resignation of Andy Burnham.

Sian Astley was due to have taken part in The Mill’s ‘Mayoral Hustings’ at Friends’ Meeting House on Mount Street, Manchester, on Monday evening.

However, The Mill’s founder and editor, Joshi Herrmann, opened the event by saying the Reform UK politician had decided not to take part, prompting cries of ‘chicken’ from some of those in the packed audience.

Empty chair: Reform UK’s Sian Astley pulled out

Herrmann provided no further explanation at the time and the event went ahead with the remaining four candidates: Phil Eckersley (Conservatives), Geraldine Coggins (Green Party), Bev Craig (Labour) and Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats).

Empty-chaired

Astley’s chair was left empty throughout the 90-minute discussion and her name card remained on the table.

However, the Reform UK politician later took to social media to say she withdrew after independent candidate Marcus Farmer was prevented from taking part.

She shared a video of Farmer arguing with Herrmann outside the venue.

Astley posted on social media: “Their response when asked was that it was incumbent on him to ask to participate, but no other candidate had to ask.

“When Marcus became frustrated at the situation, they accused him of being intimidating. I didn’t find him intimidating at all. If we can’t all participate in a fair, inclusive, democratic debate, then none of us should. So on that basis, I’m out.”

Speaking after the event, Herrmann said Farmer had not declared himself as a candidate when the event was first announced.

He said Farmer, who is a local businessman, did not approach The Mill until the day of the event – although the independent candidate claimed in the video that he had emailed The Mill earlier.

Herrmann also said Restore Britain representative Marlon West had been unavailable to take part.

Hundreds of people packed into Friends Meeting House for Monday night’s hustings, which featured a number of questions submitted by readers of The Mill, as well as a small number of audience questions.

The four candidates each had the chance to make opening and closing remarks.

Green Party representative Geraldine Coggins promised to ‘take Greater Manchester back from big money’, while Labour candidate Bev Craig pledged to put more money into people’s pockets.

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Phil Eckersley introduced himself as ‘your friendly Conservative candidate’, while Liberal Democrat representative Richard Kilpatrick said politics was ‘broken’.

  • The Greater Manchester mayoral by-election is discussed in the latest episode of the Northern Spin podcast, hosted by BusinessCloud Executive Editor Chris Maguire and Frank McKenna, chief executive and group chairman of Downtown in Business. The show is sponsored by Sancus Lending UK, a real estate lender headquartered in Manchester, and can be listened to here.