After Burnham’s reign, battle begins for Greater Manchester’s mayoral crown

Andy Burnham’s byelection win in Makerfield fired the starter pistol on another fierce contest. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham’s byelection win in Makerfield fired the starter pistol on another fierce contest. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian After Burnham’s reign, battle begins for Greater Manchester’s mayoral crown The influential role vacated by the new Makerfield MP will be fiercely contested by Labour, Reform and the Greens A s Andy Burnham maps out the final steps on his path to Downing Street , he may feel that his future is clear. But a look back over his shoulder reveals a cloudier outlook, inviting the question: what now happens to his former role as Greater Manchester’s mayor? An election has been set for 30 July, and with the job widely seen as having grown under Burnham’s tenure to become one of the most influential in British politics outside Westminster, Labour is desperate to cling on to it – but parties to its right and left both see an opportunity. Labour is yet to select a candidate, though the frontrunner is widely believed to be Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council who has been viewed as Burnham’s likely successor for a number of years. Paul Dennett, the mayor of Salford who became interim mayor of Greater Manchester following Burnham’s election as an MP , is not expected to stand. Craig, who has led the council since 2021, is thought to be favoured by many in the party as a consistent presence who can benefit from Burnham’s popularity and endorsement. These, they hope, will bring some of the 420,000 people who voted for him in the last mayoral election back to the ballot box in July. The view that the right Labour candidate can continue in Burnham’s footsteps is not shared by those outside the party, however. View image in fullscreen Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council since 2021, is seen as a frontrunner to be Labour’s mayoral candidate. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian 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”. 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”. The source added: “What we know is that the brand of Andy Burnham massively outstrips the brand of the Labour party at the moment. So when you just put another Labour party politician in on that Labour ballot, there’s no real reason to think that they’re going to get that Andy Burnham bounce.” The Greens have already begun their campaign for the mayoralty, with more than 50,000 leaflets printed to promote its candidate, Geraldine Coggins, a Trafford councillor, who was confirmed as standing on Saturday. View image in fullsc