Manchester mayoral election results LIVE: Labour's Bev Craig WINS over Reform and takes over from Andy Burnham

Manchester mayoral election results LIVE: Labour's Bev Craig WINS over Reform and takes over from Andy Burnham Results for Britain's biggest-ever by-election are expected at any moment, with Labour confident Bev Craig will be named Mayor of Greater Manchester at some point this evening The Mayor of Greater Manchester race will progress to a second round of votes, it has been confirmed, as Labour's Bev Craig hopes to succeed Andy Burnham. Following a long night of counting across Greater Manchester, Craig and Reform UK's Sian Astley will be going through to the second round. Tom Stannard, Manchester returning officer, told counters at Manchester's Co-op Live arena that a second preference count will take place. He has told counters to "focus on accuracy over speed" after several hours of waiting in the room. Ms Craig is the favourite to succeed Andy Burnham, who vacated the post when he became MP for Makerfield last month. The new Prime Minister has since set up a No10 in the North in the heart of Manchester. Reform UK were initially tipped to be a strong challenger for the coveted post, which is set to become more powerful as Mr Burnham devolves power from Westminster. Key Events Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell, the MP for Manchester Central, posted on X: "Huge congratulations to [Bev Craig] our fantastic new Mayor of Greater Manchester. "Thank you to our tireless activists who have worked so hard to help deliver this win." This was the reaction in the crowd when Bev Craig won. Bridget Phillipson, who has served as Minister for Women and Equalities since 2024 and Chair of the Labour Party since July 2026, has commented on the by-election result. Taking to X she wrote: "Congrats to Bev, who will do a brilliant job delivering a Greater Manchester that works for all. Thank you to everyone who put their faith in Labour, and the brilliant staff, members and volunteers who have put in a real shift during the largest by-election in British history." In her victory speech at Manchester’s Co-Op Arena Live, Ms Craig said: “To have trust placed in you is an honour. I’m honoured, I’m humbled and I stand ready to serve the three million people that live across this fantastic city region. I will serve every single one of them, every single day.“I never believed as a girl growing up on a council estate that one day I would have the chance to stand for the place that I love, the place in this world that I’m proud to call home and to offer my service to make our city region better.“Greater Manchester’s potential lies in its future and when Westminster walked away from us, when we were struggling as a deindustrialised city region, it was the people in this place that began the journey to rebuild.”She continued: “For too many people across our region, life is simply too hard. The generational belief that we had, that if you work hard and do the right thing, your life will be better and the life of the community will be better, is something that many people just don’t feel at the minute.“And that’s the challenge that we in politics have to face as well. And it’s why I set myself a simple task and I make that commitment to you today. That every single decision I take, as your Mayor of Greater Manchester, will pass the test of making your life better.”Ms Craig went on: “So, the hard work begins. I’ve done it with a promise and a plan, and my promise to you is that I will leave this city region better.“We have to move away from divisive politics that tries to pit neighbour against neighbour.“We will work together, we will do it together, we will deliver it together and we will build a Greater Manchester that works for all of us, that we are all part of, where everyone feels welcome and everyone has the chance to succeed.” Andrew Western MP says Bev Craig 'will be a phenomenal mayor' During her speech, Craig said she "never believed" she could have a shot at becoming mayor. She said: "I never believed as a girl growing up on a council estate that one day I would have a chance to stand for the place that I love." The vote tally from the first round of the Manchester race are now in, and they show Labour was top among parties, and several heads above Reform despite losing a significant amount of the vote compared to Burnham's time in office. Now we've seen the overall percentage of votes following the count, we know that Craig won tonight's election with the support of more than 300,000 people. She scored a combined total of 309,525 votes, across both first and second preference voting. Astley trailed with just 157,178. Reform, while having entered the second round with Craig, was dealt a drubbing by Manchester residents, who awarded Labour nearly double the vote share in second preference. The results are as follows: - Sian Astley, Reform UK - 33.7 per cent - Bev Craig, Labour and Co-operative Party - 66.3 per cent Continuing her speech, Craig said: "I will defend this city region with every bone in my body and I will fight for a better life for all of us." Craig has said she is "ready to serve" in her maiden speech after winning the Manchester mayorality. She said: "The special thank you has to go to the residents of Greater Manchester. To have trust placed in you. I'm honoured, I'm humbled and I stand ready to serve." Bev Craig has been crowned Andy Burnham’s successor as mayor of Greater Manchester today after a comfortable victory in the country’s biggest ever by-election. The 41-year-old leader of Manchester City Council and rising star in the Labour Party won in a run-off with Reform's Sian Astley after no candidate won more than 50% of the vote. Turnout in the race was just over 25% - down on the last mayoral contest in the region - with more than 500,000 ballots cast out of an eligible two million voters taking part. The result for the Mayor of Greater Manchester mayoral race is about to be announced, with vote numbers from each ward being released. As we wait for the final results, and also the breakdown of the day's first-round results, it's worth taking a moment to compare the race to the last one in 2024. Back then, Andy Burnham surged to victory for his third term, soaring with 63 percent of the vote and securing the mayorship in the first round. His last win was a slight reduction on 2021, when he managed an impressive 67 percent. Candidates have been called over in the Co-op arena, the Manchester Evening News reports, with a result potentially arriving imminently. It was unclear why, 24 hours after polling stations closed in the Greater Manchester mayoral election, no results had been published, even though the first round figures were available. Greater Manchester Elects posted on X: “Election rules only provide for these details to be published at the completion of both rounds of counting.” However elections run under the SV system between 2017 and 2022 saw first round vote figures released when it was announced there would be a second round. Electoral Commission advice says: “You should ensure that the notice of results is made available to all interested parties as soon as possible, including by publishing it on your local authority’s website.” Vote counting in Manchester is well underway for the second time tonight, and we're once again plunged into uncertainty while it continues. There is no word yet of exactly how long this could take, as counters will have to check through every ballot for second preference to see whether Craig or Astley take the top spot. So far, it has taken 13 hours, and we don't appear to be nearing the end. Geraldine Coggins, the Green Party's candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor, was "really pleased to have had our best results ever" despite failing to make the top two. Speaking from the Co-op Live arena, she hailed a "record result" for the party, and claimed the fact that the contest went to a second round was "actually quite devastating news for Labour". She said: "What we're seeing is not a ringing endorsement of this candidate [Craig] or this Labour government... even though we've been fighting this in the honeymoon period of a new prime minister." It's worth noting that we still don't know exactly how many votes the Greens received, with Coggins making similar claims to Restore's Rupert Lowe. Craig is spending time with her team and Labour faithful as the counting gets underway in Manchester. The party has been confident all evening that she would be able to take the top spot from Andy Burnham, who spent some time working in the city at Number 10 North today. It will be either her or Reform's candidate taking the mayoral race today. There is little information about the votes cast during today's race - we'll have to wait until the recount is finished for more - there are some facts that have been clarified. We know that no candidate managed to get more than 50 percent of the vote in first preferences, and we know that Reform and Labour came closest to the threshold. They will have received a sizable portion of the 538,659 confirmed votes cast across Greater Manchester. Craig and Astley received less than half of that total. Rupert Lowe has taken to social media to claim Restore's Greater Manchester Mayor candidate, Marlon West, won "tens of thousands" of votes in tonight's competition. He also claimed his party didn't come bottom of the barrel, claiming it would be revealed who West "beat". Vote counters, who have been working solidly this afternoon to count the vote for today's election, have been given a short break before they get back to the job. They have also been provided some food and refreshments. Bev Craig and Sian Astley are through to the next roundof voting after they were confirmed to have received the highest vote counts - but fell just short of 50 percent. What we know so far is that they came close to the total needed to win, but fell just short. We don't know anything else about their votes, however. Sian Astley, Reform UK's candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, will go head-to-head with Labour's Bev Craig after no candidate managed to get 50 percent of the vote. The next stage under the supplementary voting system will mean second preference votes are counted from eliminated candidates to see who comes out on top. It is now appearing likely that the Manchester mayor election count is heading to a second round, with candidates and their staffers entering huddles at Co Op Live. After a sudden and brief flurry of activity just now, with candidates seen huddling near the stage, they have now moved away from the area again. We are now back to an unspecified wait time. Mayoral candidates have gathered by the stage where results of the first round voting will be announced by a returning officer. After Labour sources suggested Bev Craig could win today's race outright, one of the party's MPs has said he's confident she'll at least make it through the first round. Andrew Western, the Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, has said the first round is looking "really positive" for their candidate Bev Craig. He told the BBC: “We’re still on the first round of counting so quite a way to go yet but it looks really positive for Bev so far, we're really pleased with what we're seeing." Ballot counting at the Co-Op Live Arena has officially concluded, but there is as of yet no sign of any results. They are expected to land at some point today, with the initial rumoured time of 4pm now long gone. It is believed that counting elsewhere, in places like Wigan where it is still ongoing, is holding up the announcement.