2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election
2 May 2024 (2024-05-02)
 
Candidate Andy Burnham Dan Barker
Party Labour Co-op Conservative
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

Incumbent Mayor

Andy Burnham
Labour Co-op


The 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election is due to be held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of Greater Manchester. The election will take place 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.

Background

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 mayor also incorporates the police and crime commissioner role of the Greater Manchester Police into their post. In addition to these, the mayor has authority over strategic housing planning, transport, adult educationand skills, social care and others.[1][2][3]

The first election to 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.[4]

As mayor, Burnham introuced 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.[5]

He also developed a "Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter", with plans to let tenants request council inspections and more funding for enforcement.[6]

Electoral system

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 will be announced nearer the election.

Campaign

The incumbent mayor Andy Burnham said he would never introduce a Clean Air Zone (CAZ), instead seeking funding for electric buses and taxis.[7] He said he would retain cameras that had been installed for a previously proposed CAZ to give footage to police.[8]

Candidates

Labour Party

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.[9] 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.[10][11] Before becoming mayor, he had been a candidate for Labour Party leadership in 2010 and 2015.[9] 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.[12]

In early 2023, Burnham confirmed his intent to run for a third term as mayor.[13]

Conservative Party

On 1 December 2023, the Conservatives selected Dan Barker, a party activist from Sale, as their candidate for mayor.[14]

Independent

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.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Directly elected mayors". www.local.gov.uk. Local Government Association. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Greater Manchester". Centre for Cities. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Dudman, Jane (3 November 2014). "What powers will the new mayor of Greater Manchester have?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Elections results 2021: Andy Burnham re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor". BBC News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Topham, Gwyn; correspondent, Gwyn Topham Transport (23 September 2023). "Manchester to launch 'revolutionary' Bee Network public bus system". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Accessibility – the key to accessing a wider pool of tenants". PropertyWire. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "Manchester scraps clean air charging zone plan". www.ft.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. 1 2 "Andy Burnham to pitch himself as Starmer's successor". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Gary Neville joins Labour and considers move into politics The Guardian. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
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