Bev Craig elected Greater Manchester mayor after Burnham becomes PM

Bev Craig was elected mayor of Greater Manchester on Friday after a second-round count against Reform UK’s Sian Astley, taking 309,525 votes to Astley’s 157,178. The contest went to a runoff because no candidate won more than half of the first-preference vote, after voters in all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester went to the polls on Thursday, 30 July 2026.

Craig, Labour’s candidate, took over after Andy Burnham stood down in June 2026 to become Britain’s prime minister. Burnham said his successor would continue to deliver the growth needed, while Craig said she was “honoured” and “humbled” to have been voted mayor.

The mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected leader of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, chairs the body and works with local councils, businesses and public services. The role was created as part of English devolution, with powers transferred from national government so more decisions can be made locally. Greater Manchester’s councils first joined a statutory city-region pilot in 2009, and the 2014 devolution agreement gave the area additional powers and greater accountability through an elected mayor. The office was first elected in May 2017.

On transport, Greater Manchester is building the Bee Network through bus franchising, backed by a transport strategy that includes the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040, a five-year delivery plan running from 2021 to 2026, and work on a new 2050 strategy. On housing, the combined authority’s 2019 to 2024 housing strategy was branded “doing housing differently”, and a recent deal on the former Greater Manchester Police headquarters site in Stretford will bring 750 homes to a 9.5-acre plot near Old Trafford.

Policing also sits within the mayoral brief. A 2017 order transferred police and crime commissioner functions to the mayor, giving the office a direct say over safety priorities as well as transport and housing.