Manchester 250: 25 June 2007

GORDON BROWN has been confirmed as leader of the Labour Party at a conference in Manchester with a promise to renew the party. The Chancellor will take over at Number 10 on Wednesday. At the same meeting at the Bridgewater Hall Harriet Harman was elected Deputy Leader. Salford MP Hazel Blears was the first to drop out from the choice of six candidates. Blears also lost her role as Party Chair to Harman.

THOUSANDS of anti-Iraq war protesters took part in a march from Albert Square to Bridgewater Hall. The protestors included parents of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They traveled from across the country to deliver a letter to Mr Brown urging him to bring the British troops home.

GORTON MONASTERY, which ranked alongside Pompeii and the Taj Mahal as being one of the world's most endangered sites, has been restored. The renovation work costing £6m has been carried out at the monastery, which was built between 1863 and 1872. The Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust spent eight years raising funds for the restoration of the Grade II listed building.

RICKY HATTON is ready to take on Floyd Mayweather Junior in what will be the fight of his career. Following his victory over Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas, he now hopes to take on Mayweather at Wembley, Madison Square Gardens or even Manchester. He said: “He is pound for pound the best in the world, and I believe that my style is his worst nightmare.”