Race to replace Andy Burnham reaches climax within hours as Reform, Restore and Labour face voters

Voters across Greater Manchester will head to the polls on Thursday to decide who will replace Andy Burnham.

Seven candidates are vying to be the next Mayor of Greater Manchester and lead the authority in charge of the region's 10 councils.

Mr Burnham, now the Prime Minister, became the first Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, holding the post for nine years before winning the Makerfield by-election and resigning from the role.

The high-stakes by-election will be voted on by residents across Greater Mancheter's 10 local authorities: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

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Standing as Mr Burnham's Labour successor is Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester City Council, a role she has held since 2021.

Ms Craig, who has described herself as "one of the most visible lesbians in politics", is the clear frontrunner for the race - holding a 20 point lead ahead of her nearest rival, according to polling from More in Common.

The council leader, who moved to Manchester from Northern Ireland, refused to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election, where Labour came third behind the Greens and Reform UK.

Second in the latest polling figures with 19 per cent is Reform UK's Sian Astley, a property expert who leads the party's group at Manchester City Council.

Ms Astley was elected in this year's local elections, where Labour lost ground to the Greens and Reform, and has set out to show politics needs "real people with real life experience".

With 14 per cent in the poll is the Greens' Geraldine Coggins, an academic and leader of her party at Trafford Council.

She will be bolstered by former Trafford councillor Hannah Spencer's victory in Gorton and Denton, and has pledged to twin Greater Manchester with a Palestinian city if she succeeds Mr Burnham.

Phil Eckersely is the Conservative candidate and is the deputy leader of his party at Trafford Council.

He said he was "honoured to have been selected", adding that the outer boroughs are too often "left behind".

Richard Kilpatrick was selected as the candidate for the Liberal Democrats.

The former teacher stands at eight per cent in the polls and has served as a councillor on Manchester City Council since 2018.

He has recently campaigned for closer ties between the European Union and Britain and has declared that Greater Manchester has been let down by "Labour's complacency".

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• Green Party candidate for Manchester backed calls for ‘car-free’ Sundays

Standing for Restore Britain is Marlon West, the father of a grooming gang survivor who has long campaigned for rape gang members to be brought to justice.

He previously told GB News: "Actions speak more than words. Families and survivors all say the same thing - accountability of the professionals who were not safeguarding the children, and also, importantly, the actual groomers who are raping the children, that they are prosecuted."

Mr West, who works as a mental health nurse, was suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for 18 months last over a social media post about the gangs. Restore leader Rupert Lowe warned that his suspension amounted an attack on free speech.

Marcus Farmer, an independent candidate, is also standing. He has warned how Manchester City Council and the combined authority have been "outclassed" by private companies, leaving a severe shortage of affordable housing in the city.

The Greater Manchester Mayoral by-election will be the first by-election held for a Combined Authority mayor and a return to the supplementary vote electoral system, which differs to the first-past-the-post system used for most other UK elections.

Voters are given a first and second choice vote - if no candidate surpasses 50 per cent based on Mancunians' first choice, a second round of tabulation is held based on the residents' next choice.

Labour is predicted to win the election - and just hours after the result is announced in the early hours of Friday morning, Mr Burnham is set to hand more power to regional mayors as part of his devolution agenda.

Led by No10 North, the Prime Minister will hand Britain's 14 regional mayors a share of income tax revenue.

It has also been suggested Mr Burnham could appoint regional mayors to the Lords.

A Government source told the Times: "For too long, governments have acted as if the answer to every problem sits somewhere in a Whitehall ­filing cabinet.

"Power should sit as close as possible to the people it affects, because the people best placed to solve a problem are usually the people living with it every single day."

The full list of Greater Manchester Mayoral candidates is as follows:

Sian Astley - Reform UK

Geraldine Coggins - Green Party

Bev Craig - Labour

Phil Eckersley - Conservative

Marcus Farmer - Independent

Richard Kilpatrick - Liberal Democrats

Marlon West - Restore Britain

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