{"id":1705,"date":"2026-07-31T22:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2026-07-31T22:53:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:53:02","slug":"labours-bev-craig-is-elected-greater-manchester-mayor-to-succeed-andy-burnham-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/?p=1705","title":{"rendered":"Labour\u2019s Bev Craig is elected Greater Manchester mayor to succeed Andy Burnham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bev Craig, the Labour Party candidate, departs Broad Oak Primary in Didsbury after voting in the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election, in Manchester, England, Thursday July 30, 2026. (Annabelle Lee-Ellis\/PA via AP)<\/small><\/p>\n

2026-07-31T22:42:18Z<\/p>\n

MANCHESTER, England (AP) \u2014 Labour Party candidate Bev Craig was elected mayor of Greater Manchester on Friday, after a vote triggered by the departure of Andy Burnham<\/a><\/span> to become Britain\u2019s prime minister. <\/p>\n

Craig won 66.3% of the votes in a runoff with Sian Astley from the anti-immigration party Reform UK.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo those that voted for me, thank you,\u201d Craig said after the result was declared. \u201cAnd for those of you that didn\u2019t vote for me, I will still be your mayor. I will defend this city region with every bone in my body and I will fight for a better life for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turnout in voting held Thursday was only 25%, the lowest in any of the four elections since the northwest England city got a directly elected mayor in 2017.<\/p>\n

Voters were able to mark a first and second choice on their ballots. Since no candidate reached 50% of the votes in the first round, the top two competed in a runoff in which the second-preference choices of five eliminated candidates were added.<\/p>\n

Craig is the outgoing leader of Manchester City Council, one of the 10 boroughs that make up Greater Manchester. She fell just short of getting 50% of the first-round votes, so didn\u2019t match the performance of Burnham, who won three straight elections without ever facing a runoff.<\/p>\n

But the decisive result is still a boost for the center-left Labour Party, which was trounced by Reform UK in elections for local council seats<\/a><\/span> across Greater Manchester less than three months ago.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s rout in those local elections across England helped trigger the resignation of then- Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a><\/span> and Burnham\u2019s rapid rise to the prime minister\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

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