Labour candidate Bev Craig won the largest by-election in British history to succeed Andy Burnham after defeating Reform’s Sian Astley in the second round of votes
Andy Burnham has urged his successor as Greater Manchester mayor to “go further and do more” after her by-election win.
Labour candidate Bev Craig won the largest by-election in British history to succeed Mr Burnham in the job after he quit and became PM.
The result came late on Friday night, and represents yet another electoral defeat for Nigel Farage‘s Reform party.
Speaking at a victory event in Manchester alongside Ms Craig, Mr Burnham dubbed her “queen of the north”
He said: “You are the right person to lead this great city region forward into its best decade ever, because that is what the next decade is going to be.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, without any further ado, can you give it up for the queen of the north, the new Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig.”
The 41-year-old leader of Manchester City Council 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.
She told supporters the public have been “crying out” for a commitment from “people in power that get it”.
Ms Craig said: “(People) that want to put more money in their pockets. That want to make life easier, that are on their side, and I’m excited to get stuck i.
“I’ll also say one final thing, and that’s about what people have voted for in this election.
“They voted for Greater Manchester to build on the legacy that we’ve created together, but they voted to reject the division and the dividing lines that people put in our communities.”
Analysis of the full votes showed that Ms Craig topped the poll in the first round of voting in all the 10 local authority areas that make up Greater Manchester.
Ms Astley came second in eight of the 10 areas while Green candidate Geraldine Coggins came second in Manchester and the Conservative candidate Phil Eckersley was second in Trafford.