Labour wins Greater Manchester mayoral byelection after marathon vote count

Labour candidate Bev Craig has won the largest byelection in British history as she was voted in as Greater Manchester mayor, succeeding Andy Burnham in the job.

The result was announced late on Friday night, more than 24 hours after polling stations closed, in a comfortable win, although with a low turnout.

Craig won 47.15 per cent of votes in the first round, just short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright in the Supplementary Vote (SV) system, so there was a second round against Reform UK candidate Sian Astley, on 20.99 per cent.

Labour gained 58,076 more votes when the second preferences of the five eliminated candidates were distributed, with Reform getting 45,250, leaving Craig on 309,525 and Astley on 157,178.

More than two million people were eligible to vote in the contest, triggered by Burnham’s election to Parliament last month, but the turnout was just under 25 per cent.

Burnham, who swiftly became UK prime minister after winning the Makerfield byelection in June, won 63 per cent of the vote in the 2024 mayoral election under the “first past the post” system, in which the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner.

In her victory speech at Manchester’s Co-Op Arena Live, Craig said: “To have trust placed in you is an honour.

“I’m honoured, I’m humbled and I stand ready to serve the three million people that live across this fantastic city region. I will serve every single one of them, every single day.

“I never believed as a girl growing up on a council estate that one day I would have the chance to stand for the place that I love, the place in this world that I’m proud to call home and to offer my service to make our city region better.

“Greater Manchester’s potential lies in its future and when Westminster walked away from us, when we were struggling as a deindustrialised city region, it was the people in this place that began the journey to rebuild.”

She continued: “For too many people across our region, life is simply too hard. The generational belief that we had, that if you work hard and do the right thing, your life will be better and the life of the community will be better, is something that many people just don’t feel at the minute.

“And that’s the challenge that we in politics have to face as well.

“And it’s why I set myself a simple task and I make that commitment to you today. That every single decision I take, as your Mayor of Greater Manchester, will pass the test of making your life better.”

Craig went on: “So, the hard work begins. I’ve done it with a promise and a plan, and my promise to you is that I will leave this city region better.

“We have to move away from divisive politics that tries to pit neighbour against neighbour.

“We will work together, we will do it together, we will deliver it together and we will build a Greater Manchester that works for all of us, that we are all part of, where everyone feels welcome and everyone has the chance to succeed.”

Burnham was blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection in February in part because Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee did not want to put the party’s control of Greater Manchester at any risk.

The May elections which triggered the departure of Keir Starmer as prime minister saw some big losses in Greater Manchester, including in Tameside where Labour lost its majority in the Greater Manchester council after an uninterrupted run of 47 years in charge.

Analysis of the full votes showed that Craig topped the poll in the first round of voting in all the 10 local authority areas that make up Greater Manchester.

Astley came second in eight of the 10 areas, while the Green candidate Geraldine Coggins came second in Manchester and the Conservative candidate Phil Eckersley was second in Trafford.