Greater Manchester voters choose next mayor in by-election today

Polling stations opened across Greater Manchester at 7am on Thursday as voters in all 10 boroughs chose the region’s next mayor in a by-election that runs until 10pm. The contest will decide who leads the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, a post created in 2017 as part of the devolution deal that gave the city region extra powers and funding.

Seven candidates stood in the vote, which is being held using the supplementary vote system. The field included Jake Austin for the Liberal Democrats, Dan Barker for Reform UK, Nick Buckley standing as an Independent, Andy Burnham for Labour, Laura Evans for the Conservatives and Hannah Spencer for the Greens, with a seventh candidate also in the race.

The by-election was triggered when Burnham resigned as mayor after returning to the House of Commons as the MP for Makerfield, a seat he won on 18 June 2026. Burnham had first won the Greater Manchester mayoralty in 2017 and went on to secure two further terms, making him the most familiar figure in a race that now tests whether voters want continuity or a change in style and priorities.

The job itself carries broad responsibilities that shape daily life across the region, including transport, housing, planning, skills and economic development. That makes the result more than a local personnel change: it is a verdict on how residents in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan judge the performance of city-regional government and the value of the powers devolved to it.

Burnham’s last full contest underlines the scale of the challenge facing his successor. He won the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election on 2 May with 420,749 votes, far ahead of Laura Evans, who finished second with 68,946. In 2021, Burnham was re-elected with 67.3% of the vote, showing the margin of support he built across the region before stepping down.

The result will also carry weight beyond Greater Manchester because the mayoralty was designed as a model for how large urban areas can win influence over transport networks, housing delivery and growth strategy. With the next scheduled mayoral election also due on Thursday 30 July 2026, the by-election has become a sharp test of whether voters still reward the central figure in that devolved system, or whether they are ready to reset the city region’s political direction.