Eleven mayors have been elected this week as voters took to the polls to have their say on who runs some of the important services in their local area, with votes now having been counted. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has officially been re-elected for another four-year term, with 420,749 votes from Greater Manchester constituents.
The mayoral elections took place on the same day as the local elections, Thursday 2 May, when voters across England and Wales chose councillors in more than 100 local authority areas. As one of the more high-profile politicians standing for re-election, Labour’s Andy Burnham will now kick off his third term as the Greater Manchester Mayor in the midst of the cornerstone Bee Network rollout, the next part of which will see all Greater Manchester’s buses to join the Bee Network by January 2025.
On his re-election as Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham said: “I am ready to fight harder than I have ever fought for anything before, for a Greater Manchester where people can live free from the fear of debt, hunger and eviction, and where everyone is set up to benefit from the growing success of our city region today.”
Andy Burnham collected 420,749 votes in order to become re-elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, compared to Laura Evans (Conservative) with 68,946 votes, Nick Buckley (Independent) with 50,304 votes, Dan Barker (Reform UK) with 49,532 votes, Hannah Spencer (Green) with 45,905 votes and Jake Austin (Liberal Democrats) with 28,195 votes. It is the third time the election for a Mayor of Greater Manchester has taken place with Andy Burnham being elected in 2017 and then again in 2021.
The Mayor joined Greater Manchester’s Combined Authority as its chair and eleventh member on his first election. He is also the lead for Policy & Reform and Transport, and is also supported by Deputy Mayor Kate Green who leads on Police, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire.
You may ask, why do we need a Mayor? Greater Manchester Combined Authority says: “In exchange for more powers and control over local budgets, Greater Manchester agreed to elect a regional mayor who would act as a single point of accountability – to both local people and central government.
“Devolution means having more control over how and where we spend the money we have. It means we can design services and find ways of working that better meet the needs of Greater Manchester and the people that live, work and invest here. It means we can boost our economy and reinvest money back into the region to where it is needed most.”
Mayoral elections took place in East Midland, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East, London, West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Salford. There were also police and crime commissioner elections across England and Wales – but not in Greater Manchester, London, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.