Labour Party candidate, Bev Craig, has been elected as the new Mayor of Greater Manchester, securing a commanding victory in Friday’s mayoral runoff following the departure of Andy Burnham, who recently became Britain’s prime minister.
Craig defeated Reform UK candidate Sian Astley with 66.3 per cent of the vote after neither candidate secured an outright majority in the first round of voting held on Thursday.
Addressing supporters after the declaration of the result, Craig pledged to represent all residents of Greater Manchester, regardless of how they voted.
“To those that voted for me, thank you,” Craig said after the result was declared. “And for those of you that didn’t vote for me, I will still be your mayor. I will defend this city region with every bone in my body and I will fight for a better life for all of us.”
The election recorded a turnout of just 25 per cent, the lowest since Greater Manchester introduced a directly elected mayor in 2017, highlighting continued concerns over voter participation in local elections.
Under the voting system, residents were allowed to select both a first and second preference candidate.
As no contender crossed the 50 per cent threshold in the initial round, the election proceeded to a runoff between Craig and Astley, with second-preference votes from the five eliminated candidates redistributed to determine the winner.
Craig, who served as the leader of Manchester City Council before the election, narrowly missed securing an outright victory in the opening round.
While she did not replicate Burnham’s previous electoral dominance, having won three consecutive mayoral elections without requiring a runoff, her eventual victory gives Labour another key regional leadership position.
The result is also viewed as a significant boost for the centre-left Labour Party, which suffered heavy losses to Reform UK in local council elections across Greater Manchester less than three months ago.
Those disappointing local election results across England intensified pressure on the Labour leadership, ultimately leading to the resignation of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer and paving the way for Andy Burnham’s rise to the country’s highest political office.
