Reform’s Sian Astley Admits She’s ‘Rubbish With Money’

Key Points

• Sian Astley, Reform UK’s candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, told social media followers she is “not normally very good” at rules and regulations.
• Astley previously told a personal finance website she was “really rubbish with money” during her earlier career as a television property presenter.
• Reform unveiled Astley as its mayoral candidate a week after the Makerfield by-election, as a replacement contest for Andy Burnham.
• Astley has appeared on several BBC property and renovation programmes and hosted Channel 5’s Half Built Home in 2012.
• More than three weeks after being elected to Manchester City Council, Astley said she had only just learned that filing paperwork for election expenses was a legal requirement.
• A Reform spokesperson defended Astley, pointing to her record as an entrepreneur who built a multi-million-pound property and design business from modest beginnings.
• Astley faces six rivals in Thursday’s mayoral election, including Labour’s Bev Craig, the Green Party’s Geraldine Coggins, and Conservative candidate Phil Eckersley.
• The contest marks the first major electoral test for Labour since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, having previously served as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
• At May’s local elections, Labour lost all but six of the thirty council seats it was defending, with the Green Party and Reform UK making significant gains.
• Nigel Farage has largely stayed out of the Greater Manchester campaign, reportedly redirecting Reform activists towards his own Clacton by-election contest instead.

Manchester (Britain Today News) July 27, 2026 — Reform UK’s candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, Sian Astley, has told her social media followers that she is “not normally very good” at rules and regulations, in comments made shortly after she won her seat on Manchester City Council earlier this year. The remarks, along with a separate admission that she was once “really rubbish with money,” have drawn attention just days before voters in Greater Manchester go to the polls to choose a successor to Andy Burnham.

Who is Sian Astley and why is she in the news?

Astley, whose first name is pronounced “cyan” rather than “shan,” is Reform UK’s chosen candidate to contest the Greater Manchester mayoralty. The party confirmed her candidacy a week after the Makerfield by-election, positioning her as its challenger for a role Andy Burnham held before his own political career took an unexpected turn.

Before entering frontline politics, Astley built a public profile as a property and renovation expert, appearing on a number of BBC television shows dedicated to home improvement. She also fronted Half Built Home for Channel 5 in 2012, giving her a media presence that predates her council career by more than a decade.

What did Astley say about being ‘not good’ at rules?

In a video posted to her own social media page on the day of her council induction, Astley spoke candidly about her unfamiliarity with local government procedure. Addressing her followers directly, she said she was

“looking forward to hearing all about the rules and regulations,”

before admitting:

“not normally very good… at rules and regulations.”

The comment, posted in the immediate aftermath of her election, has since resurfaced as her mayoral campaign has gathered pace, with critics and supporters alike pointing to it as evidence of her outsider status.

When did Astley admit she was still learning council procedures?

Astley’s social media history suggests her learning curve continued well beyond her induction. More than three weeks after taking her seat and becoming leader of the Reform group on Manchester City Council, she revealed she had only just discovered it was a legal requirement to complete paperwork relating to election expenses.

A month later, she posted again to say she was “starting to understand how decisions get made” at the authority, while still “getting to grips” with the workings of its various committees. Reflecting on the pace of her induction, Astley wrote that the process was “a lot to take in,” adding that she expected to rewatch her training sessions more than once, though she found the material “all very interesting.”

What has Astley said about her own financial history?

Astley’s admissions have not been limited to council bureaucracy. In a 2019 interview with the personal finance website LoveMoney, conducted during her television career, she was quoted describing herself as “really rubbish with money.”

Elsewhere in that same interview, Astley discussed the roots of that difficulty, saying she had “big issues being comfortable around money” as a result of not being “brought up with much.” The remarks, made years before she entered frontline politics, have taken on fresh significance now that she is standing to oversee a combined authority budget running into billions of pounds.

How has Reform UK responded to the comments?

Asked to address the resurfaced remarks, a Reform UK spokesperson did not distance the party from Astley’s comments, instead pointing to the wider context of the 2019 interview and her subsequent business success. The spokesperson highlighted her transformation from modest beginnings into the founder of a multi-million-pound property and design business.

Drawing a contrast with her main rival, the spokesperson said:

“Unlike Labour’s Bev Craig, Sian is a successful entrepreneur.”

They went on to argue that Greater Manchester needed a candidate

“who has spent her life building things, getting things done and cutting waste,”

rather than what the party characterised as a career politician.

Who are Astley’s rivals in the Greater Manchester mayoral race?

Astley is one of seven candidates standing in Thursday’s election. She will face Bev Craig, the Labour leader of Manchester City Council; Geraldine Coggins for the Green Party; Conservative candidate Phil Eckersley; the Liberal Democrats’ Richard Kilpatrick; independent candidate Marcus Farmer; and Marlon West, standing for Restore Britain.

The breadth of the field reflects how fragmented Greater Manchester’s political landscape has become since May’s local elections, when no single party emerged with a dominant position across the region’s boroughs.

What is the political backdrop to this election?

The vote represents the first major electoral test for Labour under Andy Burnham’s leadership of the national party, coming just over a month after he was elected MP for Makerfield. Burnham’s rapid rise from council leader to party leader, and subsequently Prime Minister, has reshaped the contest for his old mayoral job, with Labour keen to demonstrate it can hold the region despite the change at the top.

For Reform UK, the Greater Manchester race offers a chance to convert recent local election gains into a significant regional office, building on momentum the party has generated across the North West in 2026.

How did Labour perform in the previous local elections?

Labour’s position going into Thursday’s vote follows a difficult set of results in May, when the party lost all but six of the thirty council seats it had been defending across Greater Manchester. Of those losses, seventeen seats went to the Green Party, while Reform UK picked up seven, marking a significant shift in the region’s traditional political balance.

Those results have fed directly into the mayoral contest, with all of the parties that gained ground in May now fielding candidates hoping to build on their local election performance.
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What has Nigel Farage said about Astley’s campaign?

Reform leader Nigel Farage has made only limited public comment on Astley’s candidacy so far. He posted once about her campaign to his social media following, sharing a video that focused on her stance on illegal migration rather than local government issues.

Farage’s relative silence on the Greater Manchester race has been noted by observers, particularly given his high public profile and history of actively campaigning for Reform candidates in other contests.

Why are Reform activists reportedly focusing elsewhere?

Earlier this month, reports emerged that Reform UK activists were being encouraged to divert their efforts away from the Greater Manchester campaign and towards Farage’s own contest in Clacton. Farage resigned his Clacton seat in order to force a by-election, which he has framed as a “people versus the establishment” fight.

That strategy appeared to run into difficulty soon afterwards, when the major political parties confirmed they would not be standing candidates against him, leaving satirical candidate Count Binface as his most prominent challenger. The episode has raised questions about how much of Reform’s national campaigning resource is being channelled towards Greater Manchester in the final days before voters cast their ballots on Thursday.