The Greater Manchester mayor vote was triggered after Andy Burnham’s resignation from the role last month following his Makerfield parliamentary election victory, which paved the way for his No10 bid
Bev Craig has been crowned Andy Burnham’s successor as mayor of Greater Manchester today after a comfortable victory in the country’s biggest ever by-election.
The 41-year-old leader of Manchester City Council and rising star in the Labour Party won in a run-off with Reform’s Sian Astley after no candidate won more than 50% of the vote.
Turnout in the race was just over 25% – down on the last mayoral contest in the region – with more than 500,000 ballots cast out of an eligible two million voters taking part. After the run-off vote, taking into account voters’ second preferences, Ms Craig achieved 309,525 of the votes.
The vote was triggered after Mr Burnham’s resignation from the role last month following his Makerfield parliamentary election victory, which paved the way for his Downing Street bid.
The victory for Ms Craig, who is friends with the new Prime Minister, came despite Reform’s early hopes of a major political upset in Labour’s heartland after the party’s success in the region at the May local elections.
But with Nigel Farage distracted by his own fight with Count Binface in a by-election in Clacton and evidence of a ‘Burnham bounce’ in the national polls, surveys suggested in recent days Ms Craig was on course for a comfortable win in Greater Manchester.
Ms Craig, who grew up on a council estate just outside Belfast, moved to Manchester in 2003 at the age of 18 as a student and was first elected as a Burnage councillor in 2011.
She became the first LGBT+ and first female leader of Manchester City Council 10 years later – taking over from Sir Richard Leese, who had held the position for a quarter of a century.
In a recent interview with The Mirror, Ms Craig said her friendship and good working relationship with the new Prime Minister – who once “DJ’ed badly” at her birthday – will help Greater Manchester.
But she added: “Do not underestimate my ability to hold anyone’s feet to the fire when it means getting what we need for Greater Manchester.
“When people ask what’s the difference between you and Andy – there’s loads of differences. But I am standing as my own person, with my own ideas, and I’ll be accountable to this region, and to no one else.”
Mr Burnham was among those seen on Thursday evening casting his ballot at a polling station in Golborne, near Wigan, less than an hour before polls closed.
Manchester mayoral election results
After First preference vote:
- Sian Astley (Reform UK) – 111,928
- Geraldine Coggins (The Green Party) – 64,968
- Bev Craig (Labour and Co-operative Party) – 251,425
- Phil Eckersley (The Conservative Party) – 41,021
- Marcus Farmer (Independent) – 2,969
- Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats) – 14,702
- Marlon West (Restore Britain) – 46,289
After second preference vote:
- Sian Astley (Reform) – 157,178
- Bev Craig (Labour) – 309,525