The first election of the Andy Burnham era is already here

MANCHESTER — Andy Burnham hasn’t even been prime minister for two weeks — but his record is already on the ballot paper in a key mayoral race. Just 10 days after entering Downing Street, Burnham will be closely watching the verdict Thursday of voters across Greater Manchester who will pick his replacement as mayor of the city region that helped him build his power base and define himself against Westminster. The post, which Burnham held for nine years until resigning in June after winning a seat in parliament, comes with a host of powers including over transport, policing and housing for more than three million people. And Burnham has already talked about transferring more power from London to England’s mayors, so whoever wins the contest could end up as a guinea pig for his big devolution pitch. “Greater Manchester is my home — and serving you as Mayor for nearly a decade was an immense privilege,” said Burnham in words released overnight, as he talked up the prospects of Labour’s candidate, Bev Craig, and pitched for a continuation of his legacy. POLITICO mapped the contest and spoke to the parties duking it out for Greater Manchester’s top job. Why is the election happening? Because Burnham jumped back to Westminster, leaving a big vacancy. The current prime minister found his voice as Greater Manchester mayor — even earning the moniker “King of the North” for his feisty response to Boris Johnson’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He won three mayoral elections in a row, but national politics again came calling. Labour’s dire performance in local and devolved elections earlier this year meant MPs wanted a new leader. Burnham found a path back, winning the Makerfield by-election, seizing the Labour crown, and becoming prime minister. The ascent disqualified him from seeing out his term as mayor — and triggered a contest estimated to cost up to £5 million. Who are the main candidates? Labour, Reform UK, and the Greens are the three parties with a chance of making it to a second round in the supplementary vote (SV) system used for this contest (more on that a little later). Bev Craig, current leader of Manchester City Council, has been cast as Burnham’s protégé and said that she wants to continue and expand many of the changes he started while in charge. These include building more affordable housing, expanding free bus passes, and pushing for more devolution of powers from Westminster. Labour’s candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor, Bev Craig gives a speech on July 03, 2026 in Stockport, England. | Anthony Devlin/Getty Images But she said in a call on the eve of the vote that she would be prepared to stand up to the new prime minister — a friend — if required. “I will always put Greater Manchester first, and he wouldn’t expect anything less,” she said. Reform UK has spent months unsettling Labour, making major inroads in the May local elections across England. Its Manchester candidate Sian Astley only joined the party 18 months ago and was elected as a councilor in May. She promised a Day One policy of “transparency” — including re-investigations into the hot-button subject of sexual exploitation by grooming gangs. She also wants more scrutiny of Burnham-era decisions on housing developments and clean air zones. “Let’s go in and have a look. Let’s open it up,” she said at a food market in Altrincham, a town in the south-west of Greater Manchester. Astley said Labour has had “an absolute stronghold of a vice-like grip” across the region for too long. “This is really the first time this level of political choice has been available to the voters,” she said. Geraldine Coggins is the Green Party pick. She has stood in seven elections, and been elected as a councilor in Trafford three times. Having joined the party in 2010, she is now relishing the growth in campaign resources after recent electoral successes, and said at a community garden cafe in Manchester that activists had come from as far away as Aberdeen and C