The Greater Manchester mayoralty is being contested on 30 July 2026 , with multiple candidates looking to replace Andy Burnham MP. Brevia, a public relations and public affairs agency, has assessed the various candidates and what they could mean for businesses. If your company would appreciate a briefing on the implications for your organisation, get in touch with the Brevia team today.
Residents living in all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester will head to the polls on 30 July 2026 to vote for the region’s next mayor, a politically significant event.
The election was triggered when Andy Burnham MP, who has been Mayor of Greater Manchester for nine years, was elected as the MP for Makerfield in a parliamentary by-election. By law, an MP cannot sit in the House of Commons and hold a metropolitan mayor role that has powers over local policing. Andy Burnham MP is likely to become Prime Minister prior to the mayoral by-election taking place.
Burnham left Parliament to become Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, and in his nine-year tenure both the role and Burnham himself are widely seen as having grown in influence within British politics. Labour is keen to hold on to the mayoralty, but the parties to its right and to its left both see an opportunity.
Voting System
A new voting system will be in place for this election. Due to the passing of the Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2026 through Parliament, this election will see a switch from first-past-the-post, which is used in general elections, to the supplementary vote (SV) system. Under the SV system, voters get to have a first and second choice. If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote after first preference votes are counted, the top two candidates will go into a run-off, in which second preference votes from the eliminated candidates are counted. This system was previously in place for police and crime commissioners and mayors until 2022, when it was changed to first-past-the-post. The reintroduction of SV was long planned but pushed through Parliament when it became evident the by-election was imminent. It remains to be seen whether Labour or the Greens can utilise the voting system to consolidate broad left wing votes behind them, and whether Reform can attract first and second preferences from Conservative/ Restore voters.
History and Context
Labour’s Burnham won the first mayoral election in 2017 and secured two further terms in office. However, in the recent local council elections held on 7 May 2026, the Labour Party lost more than 100 seats in Manchester to both the Greens on its left and Reform to its right.
Furthermore, the mayoral contest will come less than six months after Labour was relegated into third place behind the Greens and Reform in the Gorton and Denton by-election, a seat that Labour comfortably won at the 2024 General Election. During that campaign, Labour warned a vote for the Greens would let in Reform.[1]
Candidates
Here is a list (in alphabetical order, by surname) of all the candidates who have confirmed they are standing in the election. The nomination period for candidates for this election ran from 10:00 BST on 26 June to 16:00 on 3 July.
Sian Astley, Reform UK
Reform UK have announced Sian Astley, elected councillor for Baguley and the party’s group leader on Manchester city council, as the party’s candidate. Astley currently lives in Fallowfield, where she runs a design and property business. She said ‘politics needs real people with real life experience. People like me’.[2]
Reform views the election as one it has a strong chance of winning, with the party looking to move past three consecutive byelection losses. The party came second in Caerphilly in October, Gorton and Denton in February and Makerfield last week, but none proved a close contest, with at least 10 per cent of the vote separating first and second place each time.
Geraldine Coggins, Green Party
Geraldine Coggins, councillor for Altrincham since 2018, is the Green Party’s candidate. Coggins, 50, worked alongside the Gorton and Denton MP, Hannah Spencer, on the council and succeeded her as the Party’s group leader after her byelection victory. She is viewed by the party as ‘someone who clearly represents something different to the politics of normal, while at the same time being very credible’.[3]
Looking to build on their success in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Cllr Coggins believes it is a straight contest between the Greens and Nigel Farage’s party, Reform. She explained that she is running ‘to make sure that we are tackling the massive inequality in our cities, to be standing up for all the different communities, for the people in the centre, for the people at the edges and for all the different people here’.[4]
A source close to the Greens said that ‘like Gorton and Denton’, where the party won its first north of England MP in February, the leadership was ‘throwing everything at this because we really think we can win it’.[5] They claimed that, without Burnham, Labour would struggle to appease voters with candidates such as Craig, who is ‘a symbol of the things people don’t like about the Labour party, that sense of a very ‘politiciany’ politician’.[6]
The Greens have already begun their campaign for the mayoralty, with more than 50,000 leaflets printed to promote Coggins. In a message to supporters on Friday morning, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said that ‘the race for Greater Manchester mayor starts today and it’s Greens versus Reform’.[7]
Bev Craig, Labour
The leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, is Labour’s candidate in the upcoming election. Cllr Craig became the first female leader of the city council in 2021 and is its first LGBT leader. Labour described her as a ‘former council estate kid whose family endured unemployment, ill health, and financial hardship.’[8]
Cllr Craig said Greater Manchester transformed her life after moving to the city region when she was 18. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Steve Reed, the local government secretary, insisted it was a ‘straight fight between Labour and Reform’.[9]
Phil Eckersley, Conservative
The Conservative Party have announced Trafford councillor Phil Eckersley as its candidate. Eckersley represents Bowdon Ward on Trafford Council, where he serves as deputy leader of the Trafford Conservative Group. He said that ‘the Conservative Party has a clear vision for Greater Manchester, safer streets, better transport, thriving local businesses, responsible development and value for taxpayers’ money’.[10]
Richard Kilpatrick, Liberal Democrats
Former teacher Richard Kilpatrick, who served as a councillor in Didsbury West for the past eight years, is the Liberal Democrats’ candidate. He said that ‘our region has so much potential, but voters have been let down by Labour’s complacency, whilst all Reform offer is division’.[11] Kilpatrick wants to see more investment in social care, more affordable public transport, and improvements to community policing.
Marlon West, Restore Britain
Former mental health nurse Marlon West is Restore Britain’s candidate for the election. With West as mayor, Restore said it plans to attract business investment, cut wasteful spending, including within Greater Manchester’s Combined Authority, protect greenfield, and overhaul the transport network. West said ‘I have lived and worked in this city for my entire life. I have seen what good public services look like and I have seen what happens when institutions fail the people they are supposed to protect’.
Speak to Brevia
Brevia is monitoring the Manchester Mayor result and its implications closely. If your organisation needs an in-depth briefing on what a potential change in Manchester could mean for your sector, contact our team on 020 7091 1650 or contact@brevia.co.uk
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[1] The Independent, Labour launches attack on Greens as pollster tips Polanski’s party to win crucial Gorton and Denton by-election, 28 January 2026, link
[2] ITV, Everything you need to know about the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 30 June 2026, link
[3] The Guardian, After Burnham’s reign, battle begins for Greater Manchester’s mayoral crown, 22 June 2026, link
[4] ITV, Everything you need to know about the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 30 June 2026, link
[5] The Guardian, After Burnham’s reign, battle begins for Greater Manchester’s mayoral crown, 22 June 2026, link
[6] The Guardian, After Burnham’s reign, battle begins for Greater Manchester’s mayoral crown, 22 June 2026, link
[7] The Telegraph, Reform and Greens in two-way race for Manchester mayor, says Polanski, 19 June 2026, link
[8] ITV, Everything you need to know about the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 30 June 2026, link
[9] The Telegraph, Reform and Greens in two-way race for Manchester mayor, says Polanski, 19 June 2026, link
[10] ITV, Everything you need to know about the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 30 June 2026, link
[11] ITV, Everything you need to know about the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 30 June 2026, link
[12] ITV, Everything you need to know about the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 30 June 2026, link
