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Conservative leader wins appeal after party de-selected him from standing for his seat

Monday, 28 April 2025 14:41

By Chris Gee, Local Democracy Reporter

Bury council’s Conservative leader has won an appeal after he was de-selected as a candidate for next year’s local elections.

In March this year, Coun Russell Bernstein, who has led the Tory group for the past three years, was told a five-person selection panel from the borough’s
Conservative Association turned down his application to stand as a candidate.
However, after appealing that decision to Greater Manchester Conservative Association, Coun Bernstein has had his claim upheld.

There are no elections in 2025 in Bury so the borough selection panel who originally de-selected Coun Bernstein was choosing its slate of candidates for the 2026 elections.

It is understood Coun Bernstein was the only sitting Conservative councillor in Bury not approved by the panel.

After winning his appeal, Coun Bernstein, who represents the Pilkington Park ward, says he wants the matter of his potential selection as a Tory candidate to be ‘progressed in a fair and unbiased way’.

He said: “I am obviously pleased that my appeal against being deselected has been upheld. “I want to thank the area committee for taking an objective and fair minded approach to the decision taken by the cabal that exists in Bury Conservatives Association.

“I am seeking advice from senior members of the party as to how this matter can now be progressed in a fair and unbiased way.

“I want to reiterate my commitment to stand up for what is right which based on the numerous messages of support I have received the vast majority of people are totally supportive of me for doing so.”

When informed of his de-selection last month Coun Bernstein said he was ‘very disappointed’ with the decision. He said he believed the move came after he raised what he thought were ‘legitimate concerns’ about issues within the Bury Conservative association.

At the time of publication Bury Conservative Association had not responded to a request for comment. Fellow Conservative councillors on Bury Council have given their support to Coun Bernstein since the de-selection decision.

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