{"id":720678,"date":"2026-07-31T09:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720678\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:50:09","slug":"greater-manchester-mayoral-election-live-count-begins-as-andy-burnham-faces-first-big-test-against-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720678\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Manchester mayoral election live: Count begins as Andy Burnham faces first big test against Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Mayors allowed to keep share of taxes collected in their area as part of Burnham\u2019s devolution revolution<\/p>\n

English mayors will be allowed to keep a share of the taxes collected in their area, Andy Burnham has said as part of his pledge to \u201ctake power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country\u201d.<\/p>\n

The prime minister\u2019s plans to let mayors keep a slice of income tax and business rates come as part of his bid to incentivise regional leaders to promote economic growth in different parts of the UK.<\/p>\n

However, the plan falls short of the suggestion that he would allow mayors to raise taxes themselves by devolving control over income tax, as it has been handed to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.<\/p>\n

Nicole Wootton-Cane31 July 2026 10:42<\/p>\n

<\/a>How did Andy Burnham fare in Manchester’s past mayoral elections?<\/p>\n

Prime minister Andy Burnham stepped down from his role as mayor of Greater Manchester after winning the Makerfield by-election in June.<\/p>\n

He previously held the role since 2017, coming first in all ten areas of the region in each election he stood in.<\/p>\n

In 2017 he won 63 per cent of the vote, in 2021 his vote share increased slightly to 67.3 per cent, and in 2024 he received 63.4 per cent. <\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Burnham cast his vote in the by-election to choose his successor as Greater Manchester mayor late on Thursday (Annabel Lee-Ellis\/PA) (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Nicole Wootton-Cane31 July 2026 10:08<\/p>\n

<\/a>Vote counting begins in Manchester<\/p>\n

Vote counting is now underway in Manchester, with seven candidates on the ballot paper.<\/p>\n

They are, in alphabetical order: Sian Astley (Reform), Geraldine Coggins (Green), Bev Craig (Labour), Phil Eckersley (Conservative), Marcus Farmer (Independent), Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats) and Marlon West (Restore Britain).<\/p>\n

Results are not expected before the afternoon.<\/p>\n

We will bring you the latest as it happens.<\/p>\n

Nicole Wootton-Cane31 July 2026 09:38<\/p>\n

<\/a>How this election’s supplementary vote system works<\/p>\n

The cost of the contest is expected run into the millions, with the 2024 mayoral election costing the taxpayer \u00a34.7 million.<\/p>\n

That contest saw Andy Burnham re-elected with 63 per cent of the vote under the \u201cfirst past the post\u201d system, in which the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner.<\/p>\n

He also received the most votes in each of Greater Manchester\u2019s 10 local authority areas.<\/p>\n

For Thursday\u2019s by-election, voting changed back to the \u201csupplementary vote\u201d (SV) system used in the mayoral elections in 2017 and 2021.<\/p>\n

If any candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the first-choice votes, they are declared the winner.<\/p>\n

If no candidate has more than 50 per cent of first-choice votes, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and the count moves to a second round.<\/p>\n

The ballot papers of the eliminated candidates are counted again and if there are any second-choice votes for the two remaining candidates, these are added to their first-choice totals.<\/p>\n

The candidate with the highest overall total of first and second-choice votes is declared the winner.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the last time Greater Manchester was contested under the SV system, Mr Burnham won in the first round with 67 per cent of first preference votes.<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth31 July 2026 08:52<\/p>\n

<\/a>Greens say Labour voters have moved across ‘in their droves’<\/p>\n

Green Party candidate Geraldine Coggins said her party had seen \u201cformer Labour voters move to the Greens in droves\u201d and shown it could \u201cchallenge the larger parties\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cA new prime minister who is popular in this region meant that we were contesting this election in unusual circumstances. However, we found real discontent across Greater Manchester with how Labour have been running this place, and the people want a change of direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes clear commitments on rent controls, affordable housing and to make sure people are put before profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth31 July 2026 08:42<\/p>\n

<\/a>Bev Craig: Andy Burnham\u2019s \u2018prot\u00e9g\u00e9\u2019 who wants to be more powerful than he was<\/p>\n

Read our profile of Labour\u2019s candidate below:<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth31 July 2026 08:33<\/p>\n

<\/a>Labour ‘on the front foot’, Lucy Powell says<\/p>\n

After voting finished on Thursday, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell said her party had run \u201ca really positive campaign\u201d and been \u201con the front foot, setting out our stall, showing what Labour in power can do\u201d. <\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThrough our candidate Bev Craig and our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, we have heard from many people who are giving Labour another look. Labour is offering hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the voters of Greater Manchester put their trust in Labour, we will all work tirelessly to put Bev\u2019s promises into action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth31 July 2026 08:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>What time will the Greater Manchester mayoral election results be announced and is there an exit poll?<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth31 July 2026 08:29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayors allowed to keep share of taxes collected in their area as part of Burnham\u2019s devolution revolution English…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-720678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}