Greater Manchester mayor: Peter Clifford stands as Communist League candidate

Peter Clifford, 61, was a founding member of the Communist League in 1988

A communist trade unionist is standing as a candidate in the Greater Manchester mayoral election.

Peter Clifford, 61, from Manchester, will contest the election on 4 May on behalf of the Communist League.

He will campaign about issues such as policing, tackling anti-Semitism and "declining" health care conditions.

The successful candidate will lead Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which is made up of the leaders of each of the area's 10 local authorities.

The mayor will chair meetings and allocate responsibilities to the authority's cabinet.

Candidates so far are:

Sean Anstee - Conservative

Jane Brophy - Liberal Democrat

Andy Burnham - Labour

Peter Clifford - Communist League

Stephen Morris - English Democrats

Shneur Odze - UKIP

Will Patterson - Green Party

Mr Clifford, a production line butcher at Tulip Meats in Dukinfield, said: "I'm standing to help build a movement of working people to replace capitalism which is the source of the problem."

He said his campaign would take him on to door steps across Greater Manchester where he will explain "how working class people made the two great revolutions of the last century in Cuba and Russia".

"We will need to follow their example and to win we will need a working class revolutionary party, independent of the capitalists," he said.