2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election

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2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election
← 2021 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2028 →
Turnout32.05%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Con
Ind
Candidate Andy Burnham Laura Evans[1] Nick Buckley
Party Labour Co-op Conservative Independent
Popular vote 420,749 68,946 50,304
Percentage 63.4% 10.4% 7.6%
Swing Decrease3.9pp Decrease9.2pp Increase4.9pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Ref
Gre
Lib
Candidate Dan Barker Hannah Spencer Jake Austin
Party Reform UK Green Liberal Democrats
Popular vote 49,532 45,905 28,195
Percentage 7.5% 6.9% 4.2%
Swing Increase4.8pp Increase2.5pp Increase1.0pp
Metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester

1.City of Manchester 2.Stockport 3.Tameside 4.Oldham 5.Rochdale 6.Bury 7.Bolton 8.Wigan 9.City of Salford 10.Trafford

Mayor before election

Andy Burnham
Labour Co-op

Elected mayor

Andy Burnham
Labour Co-op

The 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of Greater Manchester. The election took place on the same day as council elections within the city region, including the election for the mayor of Salford, as well as local elections across England and Wales.

Andy Burnham of the Labour and Co-operative Party was re-elected with 420,749 votes, on a turnout of 30.05%.[2]

Background

[edit]

The mayor of Greater Manchester serves as the directly elected leader of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The mayor has power over an investment directly to the combined authority from the government of £30 million a year for 30 years from 2017. The post of mayor also incorporates that of police and crime commissioner of the Greater Manchester Police. In addition to these functions, the mayor has authority over strategic housing planning, transport, adult education and skills, social care, and other matters.[3][4][5]

The first election for the position was held in 2017. The Labour candidate Andy Burnham was elected as the inaugural mayor; he was successful in his bid for re-election in 2021 with 67% of the vote in the first round.[6]

As mayor, Burnham introduced the Bee Network, a transport network involving franchising all buses in Greater Manchester, with pricing capped and integrated with trams and plans to include local trains.[7]

He also developed a "Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter", with plans to let tenants request council inspections and more funding for enforcement.[8]

Electoral system

[edit]

This election will be the first to use first-past-the-post to elect the mayor as a result of the changes made by the Elections Act 2022, with previous elections in 2017 and 2021 using the supplementary vote system. Voters will be able to vote for a single candidate, and the candidate receiving the most votes will be elected mayor.

All registered electors living in Greater Manchester aged 18 or over on 2 May 2024 will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. Those who are temporarily away from Greater Manchester (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) will also be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election was Tuesday 16 April 2024.

Campaign

[edit]

The incumbent mayor Andy Burnham said he would never introduce a Clean Air Zone (CAZ), instead seeking funding for electric buses and taxis.[9] He said he would retain cameras that had been installed for a previously proposed CAZ to give footage to police.[10] Dan Barker, the former Conservative candidate, said he would remove the cameras.[11]

The Liberal Democrat candidate Jake Austin said he would reverse cuts to local bus services.[12]

Candidates

[edit]

Labour Party

[edit]

Andy Burnham has been the mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 and before that the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leigh from 2001 to 2017.[13] There was speculation that Burnham might stand for election to become an MP so he could become a candidate in a future Labour leadership election. Burnham repeatedly stated that he would complete a full second term of the mayoralty but did not specify beyond that point.[14][15] Before becoming mayor, he had been a candidate for Labour Party leadership in 2010 and 2015.[13] After joining the Labour Party in January 2022, the former professional footballer Gary Neville was linked with a potential candidacy to become Greater Manchester mayor, which he refused to rule out.[16]

In early 2023, Burnham confirmed his intent to run for a third term as mayor.[17]

Conservative Party

[edit]

On 22 March 2024, the Conservatives selected Laura Evans as their candidate after their prior candidate, Dan Barker, defected to Reform UK.[18] Evans also stood for the Conservatives in the 2021 election and previously served as a Councillor on Trafford Council for Village Ward.[1]

Green Party

[edit]

On 25 March 2024, the Green Party's candidate Hannah Spencer, a councillor for Hale in Trafford since 2023, announced her selection as their candidate for Mayor.[19][20]

Liberal Democrats

[edit]

On 1 March 2024, the Liberal Democrats announced that they had selected Jake Austin, a councillor for Hazel Grove in Stockport since 2023, as their candidate for mayor.[21]

Reform UK

[edit]

The original Conservative candidate Dan Barker, a former Conservative Party activist from Sale who has worked as a project manager,[22][23] defected to Reform UK on 21 March 2024 and will stand as their candidate.[24]

Independent and other candidates

[edit]

Nick Buckley, a charity worker who ran as the Reform UK candidate in the 2021 mayoral election, announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate. He said he wanted Bolton to secede from Greater Manchester and become administratively part of Lancashire.[25]

Don Prof Reis Abraham Halliwell Prf attempted to register as an independent candidate,[26] however his nomination was invalid as it was not subscribed as required by law.[27] He previously stood as a candidate in the Heaton Lostock and Chew Moor ward during the 2023 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election.[28]

George Galloway was reported as considering standing in the election.[29] He denied that he would run, instead stating his ambitions to run in 2028.[30]

Opinion polling

[edit]
Dates
conducted 		Pollster Client Sample
size 		Burnham
Lab 		Barker
Reform 		Buckley
Ind 		Evans
Con 		Austin
Lib Dems 		Spencer
Green 		Others Lead
19–24 Apr 2024 More in Common N/A 2,017 63% 12% 9% 9% 4% 4% – 51

Results

[edit]
2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election[27][31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Andy Burnham 420,749 63.4 −3.9
Conservative Laura Evans 68,946 10.4 −9.2
Independent Nick Buckley 50,304 7.6 +4.9
Reform UK Dan Barker 49,532 7.5 +4.8
Green Hannah Spencer 45,905 6.9 +2.5
Liberal Democrats Jake Austin 28,195 4.2 −0.2
Majority 351,803 53.0
Rejected ballots 5,863
Turnout 663,631 32.0
Registered electors
Labour Co-op hold Swing +2.7
2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election rejected ballots[32]
Reason Number Percentage of total votes*
Want of an official mark 4 0.000
Voting for more than one candidate 751 0.001
Writing or mark which voter could be identified 104 0.000
Unmarked or void for uncertainty 5,004 0.007
Total 5,863 0.009

* Including total rejected ballots.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Timan, Joseph (22 March 2024). "Tories select new mayoral candidate who 'always stood against most of Andy Burnham's proposals'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Result 2024". Greater Manchester Elects. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Directly elected mayors". www.local.gov.uk. Local Government Association. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Greater Manchester". Centre for Cities. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  5. ^ Dudman, Jane (3 November 2014). "What powers will the new mayor of Greater Manchester have?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Elections results 2021: Andy Burnham re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor". BBC News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  7. ^ Topham, Gwyn (23 September 2023). "Manchester to launch 'revolutionary' Bee Network public bus system". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Accessibility – the key to accessing a wider pool of tenants". PropertyWire. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Manchester scraps clean air charging zone plan". www.ft.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  10. ^ Lythgoe, George (14 December 2023). "'There will never be a Clean Air Zone charge while I'm mayor', Andy Burnham says". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Greater Manchester mayor candidate vows to remove clean air cameras". BBC News. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Manchester mayor: Lib Dem candidate targets public transport". BBC Website. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Andy Burnham to pitch himself as Starmer's successor". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  14. ^ Batchelor, Tom (3 October 2021). "Burnham forced to back Starmer after allies 'give Labour leader 12 months'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  15. ^ Proctor, Kate (23 September 2021). "Andy Burnham: 'I'm not hatching any plans to get back to Westminster any time soon'". Politics Home. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  16. ^ Gary Neville joins Labour and considers move into politics The Guardian. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  17. ^ Topping, Stephen (20 January 2023). "Andy Burnham WILL run for mayor again - but won't rule out Labour leadership bid". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  18. ^ Kevin, Fitzpatrick; Francis, Sam (21 March 2024). "Tory Greater Manchester mayoral candidate Dan Barker defects to Reform UK". BBC.
  19. ^ Timan, Joseph (25 March 2024). "Green Party names Trafford councillor as candidate for Greater Manchester mayor". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  20. ^ https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-a-green-stand-for-greater-manchester-mayor [bare URL]
  21. ^ "Manchester Mayoral Candidate announced". Stockport Liberal Democrats. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  22. ^ Davies, Ethan (4 December 2023). "Andy Burnham's Conservative challenger for Greater Manchester's mayoral election has been named". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Greater Manchester Mayor: Who is standing and what is the role?". BBC News. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Tory Manchester Mayoral Candidate Defects to Reform Party". 21 March 2024.
  25. ^ Martin, Daniel (1 May 2023). "Bolton campaigners hope to break free from Greater Manchester's grip". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  26. ^ Davies, Ethan (5 April 2024). "Greater Manchester Mayor election 2024 candidates list in full". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Statement as to Persons Nominated" (PDF). Greater Manchester Combined Authority Returning Officer. 8 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Bolton local election 2023 live: Results by ward". Mancunian Matters. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  29. ^ Timan, Joseph (15 March 2024). "George Galloway is considering standing against Andy Burnham to be Greater Manchester mayor". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  30. ^ Belger, Daniel Green, Tom (18 March 2024). "Revealed: George Galloway says he'll run as Greater Manchester mayor – in 2028". LabourList. Retrieved 18 March 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ "Result 2024". Greater Manchester Elects. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  32. ^ "Result 2024".
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