Andy Burnham’s successor as Greater Manchester mayor will be announced on Friday in what is his first electoral test as prime minister.
Counting of votes from Thursday’s by-election begun at 9.30am and will continue throughout the day. The result is not expected to be declared before the afternoon.
More than two million people were eligible to vote in the contest, triggered by Mr Burnham’s election as MP for Makerfield last month before he became leader of the Labour Party.
Polling before the vote suggested Labour candidate Bev Craig, currently the leader of Manchester City Council and an ally of Mr Burnham’s, was on course to win by a comfortable margin.
Her main rival is likely to be either Reform UK’s Sian Astley or the Green Party’s Geraldine Coggins, who are likely to battle it out for second place.
Mr Burnham voted at a polling station in Golborne, near Wigan, late on Thursday, casting his ballot less than an hour before polls closed.
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Mayors allowed to keep share of taxes collected in their area as part of Burnham’s devolution revolution
English mayors will be allowed to keep a share of the taxes collected in their area, Andy Burnham has said as part of his pledge to “take power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country”.
The prime minister’s plans to let mayors keep a slice of income tax and business rates come as part of his bid to incentivise regional leaders to promote economic growth in different parts of the UK.
However, the plan falls short of the suggestion that he would allow mayors to raise taxes themselves by devolving control over income tax, as it has been handed to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.
You can read more below:
How did Andy Burnham fare in Manchester's past mayoral elections?
Prime minister Andy Burnham stepped down from his role as mayor of Greater Manchester after winning the Makerfield by-election in June.
He previously held the role since 2017, coming first in all ten areas of the region in each election he stood in.
In 2017 he won 63 per cent of the vote, in 2021 his vote share increased slightly to 67.3 per cent, and in 2024 he received 63.4 per cent.
Vote counting begins in Manchester
Vote counting is now underway in Manchester, with seven candidates on the ballot paper.
They are, in alphabetical order: Sian Astley (Reform), Geraldine Coggins (Green), Bev Craig (Labour), Phil Eckersley (Conservative), Marcus Farmer (Independent), Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats) and Marlon West (Restore Britain).
Results are not expected before the afternoon.
We will bring you the latest as it happens.
How this election's supplementary vote system works
The cost of the contest is expected run into the millions, with the 2024 mayoral election costing the taxpayer £4.7 million.
That contest saw Andy Burnham re-elected with 63 per cent of the vote under the “first past the post” system, in which the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner.
He also received the most votes in each of Greater Manchester’s 10 local authority areas.
For Thursday’s by-election, voting changed back to the “supplementary vote” (SV) system used in the mayoral elections in 2017 and 2021.
If any candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the first-choice votes, they are declared the winner.
If no candidate has more than 50 per cent of first-choice votes, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and the count moves to a second round.
The ballot papers of the eliminated candidates are counted again and if there are any second-choice votes for the two remaining candidates, these are added to their first-choice totals.
The candidate with the highest overall total of first and second-choice votes is declared the winner.
In 2021, the last time Greater Manchester was contested under the SV system, Mr Burnham won in the first round with 67 per cent of first preference votes.
Greens say Labour voters have moved across 'in their droves'
Green Party candidate Geraldine Coggins said her party had seen “former Labour voters move to the Greens in droves” and shown it could “challenge the larger parties”.
She said: “A new prime minister who is popular in this region meant that we were contesting this election in unusual circumstances. However, we found real discontent across Greater Manchester with how Labour have been running this place, and the people want a change of direction.
“This includes clear commitments on rent controls, affordable housing and to make sure people are put before profit.”
Bev Craig: Andy Burnham’s ‘protégé’ who wants to be more powerful than he was
Read our profile of Labour’s candidate below:
Labour 'on the front foot', Lucy Powell says
After voting finished on Thursday, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell said her party had run “a really positive campaign” and been “on the front foot, setting out our stall, showing what Labour in power can do”.
She said: “Through our candidate Bev Craig and our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, we have heard from many people who are giving Labour another look. Labour is offering hope.
“If the voters of Greater Manchester put their trust in Labour, we will all work tirelessly to put Bev’s promises into action.”
What time will the Greater Manchester mayoral election results be announced and is there an exit poll?
