Bev Craig succeeds Andy Burnham and wins back support in areas where Reform made gains in May
Prime Minister Andy Burnham stepped down as mayor of Greater Manchester to take his seat in Parliament after he won the parliamentary by-election in Makerfield.
So a by-election was held in Manchester on Thursday to pick Burnham's successor there as mayor. After two rounds of counting, Labour's Bev Craig emerged as the winner.
Labour has stormed to a decisive victory in the Greater Manchester mayoral byelection, seizing back areas that recently fell to Reform UK and the Greens. Labour’s Bev Craig, the Manchester city council leader, will now succeed Andy Burnham and hold one of the most powerful political positions outside Westminster. Labour won 47% of first-preference votes, with Reform UK way behind on 21% and the Greens in third on 12%. The contest took place under the supplementary vote system, meaning that, as no candidate achieved more than 50%, voters’ second preferences were counted.
It may not be called that, but it appears that Manchester has a ranked choice system of voting. Craig fell slightly short in the first round but leapt to almost a two to one victory over far right Reform UK's Sian Astley.
Labour surged back in areas where Reform had made gains in local elections last spring.
A poll last month had Labour and Reform UK virtually neck and neck in the battle for the mayoralty. In the May elections, Farage’s party won more than 100 seats across Greater Manchester, including all but one of the 25 up for grabs in Wigan – the borough of Burnham’s new constituency – and 18 out of 19 in Tameside, both once solidly Labour areas. However, Farage scuppered the party’s mayoral campaign when he announced he was standing down as an MP in order to fight a self-imposed parliamentary byelection in Clacton after scrutiny over his funding. Before the result was officially declared, Labour sources said it had won in every ward in boroughs including Bury, Tameside and all but one in Trafford, where both Reform UK and the Greens made inroads in May.
So the Burnham bounce continues.
As Ben Walker at Britain Elects puts it...
Labour outperformed the polls in Greater Manchester this week, comfortably holding its mayoralty against a Reform and Green challenge. While their vote share is markedly down on what Andy Burnham got for Labour in 2024, compared to the prediction markets and even the more bullish pollsters, Labour didn’t do half bad.
Don't fall for the doomers and whiners. The far right can be beaten with good candidates and sound leadership.
