Bev Craig elected Greater Manchester mayor

Labour candidate Bev Craig has been elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, succeeding Andy Burnham after a byelection that required a second round of counting and saw the lowest voter turnout in the region's history. Craig, the leader of Manchester City Council, defeated Reform UK candidate Sian Astley by a margin of 152,147 votes, securing 309,525 votes to Astley's 157,178 after second preferences were allocated.

The election, held on July 30, 2026, was triggered by Burnham's victory in the Makerfield parliamentary byelection on June 18, which set him on the path to become Prime Minister and required him to step down as mayor. More than two million people were eligible to vote across the ten boroughs, but only 538,659 ballots were cast, resulting in a record-low turnout of 25.14 percent.

For this contest, the electoral system reverted to the supplementary vote method, where voters mark a first and second choice. No candidate secured more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, forcing the election to a second round for the first time in Greater Manchester's mayoral history. In the initial count, Craig received 251,449 first-preference votes, with Astley at 111,928. The eliminated...