Mayoral elections 2024: Andy Burnham re-elected for third term

Andy Burnham has been re-elected as Greater Manchester Mayor for a third term in a landslide victory. The Labour mayor won with 420,749 votes, which accounts for 63.4% of the total votes.

There were six candidates in total. Andy Burnham’s closest rival was the Conservative candidate Laura Evens with 68,946 votes, followed by independent candidate Nick Buckley with 50,304. 

At 63.4%, Andy Burnham’s result is down by three percent compared to the 2021 election. However, the Conservative vote has fallen by nine percent to 10.39%, compared to the 2021 result.

Elections for Greater Manchester Mayor took place on Thursday 2 May alongside local elections across the region’s ten boroughs. The votes were counted and results announced on Saturday 4 May. 

Speaking to the crowds after the results were announced, Burnham thanked everyone who had worked on the campaign, his fellow candidates and his family for “putting up with” him during another election campaign. 

He said: “When it comes to the decency and warmth of the people, there is no better city region on Earth than this one that we live in. That is why being elected to represent for the third time means absolutely everything to me. I can honestly say I have never given anything less than my all to this job and I've tried to be there for all communities, and everyone who lives here – and I promise to do again.”

Burnham said that his victory in the election is an endorsement of the “new politics we are pioneering” in Greater Manchester. 

He said: “It has been hard to keep Greater Manchester moving forward when the country has been going backwards. But we have managed it and our economy is growing faster than the UK's, yet we still need change. And that is why it is so good to see the country voting for it at these elections. Britain desperately needs a new government and a fresh start and, from here, we will work to bring that change about.”

He also mentioned some of the key points in his manifesto, including the further development of Manchester’s integrated transport system, the Bee Network, improving social housing and the introduction of the Manchester Baccalaureate as an alternative university. 

The position of Greater Manchester Mayor was first created in 2015 and Andy Burnham has won all three elections since then. Labour politician Tony Lloyd, who died in January, held the position on an interim basis from 2015 until the first election in 2017.

The full list of results:

Jake Austin ( Liberal Democrats) – 28,195 (4.25%)

Dan Barker (Reform UK) – 49,532 (7.46%)

Nick Buckley (Independent) – 50,304 (7.58%)

Andy Burnham (Labour Party) – 420,749 (63.40%)

Laura Evans (Conservative Party) – 68,946 (10.39%)

Hannah Spencer (Green Party) – 45,905 (6.92%)

Total votes: 663,631