Proudly Jewish Conservative leader deselected as election candidate
Russell Bernstein has led the Tory group in the Greater Manchester town for the past three years
The Jewish leader of Bury Conservatives has been been de-selected as a candidate for local elections in the region.
Councillor Russell Bernstein, who has led the Tory group in the Greater Manchester town for the past three years, was told a five-person selection panel from the borough’s Conservative Association had turned down his application to stand as a candidate.
Responding to the shock decision Bernstein said he was “very disappointed” and has pledged to lodge an appeal.
He added: “To put this decision in context this is the first time in living memory that a sitting Conservative councillor in Bury has not been given the opportunity to seek the nomination of the ward they represent.”
Bernstein, brother of the late Sir Howard Bernstein, the former chief executive of Manchester City Council, who died last year, added:”As a proud Jewish councillor and the leader of the Bury Conservative councillor group it is my intention to stay around Bury Conservatives for as long as I can in the belief that the unheard voices within the membership of Bury Conservatives share the same values and beliefs as the councillors whom many in Bury have democratically voted for.
“I look forward to seeing where this latest battle takes me.”
Bernstein, who represents the Pilkington Park ward, is understood to be the only sitting Conservative councillor in Bury not approved by the panel.
An email from Bury Conservatives informing Coun Bernstein of the decision was seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
David Nuttall the chair of the association, who was the MP for Bury North from 2010 until 2017, wrote: “I regret to inform you that your application to join the approved list of candidates for the 2026 local government elections in Bury has been unsuccessful.
“I appreciate this will be extremely disappointing.
“I wish to thank you for all the work you have done whilst a councillor and I know you will continue to provide the residents of Pilkington Park ward with the representation they need for the remainder of your term.”
There are no council elections in 2025 in Bury but the selection panel was choosing its slate of candidates for the 2026 elections.
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