2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election
← 2021 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2028 →
Greater Manchester numbered districts.svg
Metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester

1.City of Manchester 2.Stockport 3.Tameside 4.Oldham 5.Rochdale 6.Bury 7.Bolton 8.Wigan 9.City of Salford 10.Trafford

Incumbent Mayor

Andy Burnham
Labour



The 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election is scheduled to be held on 2 May 2024 to elect the Mayor of Greater Manchester. The election will take place the same day as council elections within the city region, including the election for the Mayor of Salford, as well as local elections across England and Wales and (unless an earlier election is called by Parliament or the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 is repealed) the next United Kingdom general election.

Background[]

The Mayor of Greater Manchester serves as the directly elected leader of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The Mayor has power over an investment directly to the combined authority from the government of £30 million a year for 30 years from 2017. The Mayor also incorporates the Police and Crime Commissioner role of the Greater Manchester Police into their post. In addition to these, the mayor has authority over strategic housing planning, transport, adult educationand skills, social care and others.[1][2][3]

The first ever election was held in 2017. The Labour candidate Andy Burnham was elected as the inaugural mayor; he was successful in his bid for re-election in 2021 with 67% in the first round, winning without a need to go to the second round.[4]

Electoral system[]

As the law currently stands, the election will use a supplementary vote system, in which voters express a first and a second preference for candidates.[5]

  • If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first preference vote, that candidate wins.
  • If no candidate receives more than 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates proceed to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated.
  • The first preference votes for the remaining two candidates stand in the final count.
  • Voters' ballots whose first and second preference candidates are eliminated are discarded.
  • Voters whose first preference candidates have been eliminated and whose second preference candidate is one of the top two have their second preference votes added to that candidate's count.

This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.

However, in early 2021 the Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that the government would bring forward legislation to change the voting system used to elect all mayoral elections in England and Wales to first past the post.[6]

All registered electors living in Greater Manchester aged 18 or over on 2 May 2024 will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. Those who are temporarily away from Greater Manchester (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) will also be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election will be announced nearer the election.

Candidates[]

Labour Party[]

Andy Burnham has been the mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 and before that the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leigh from 2001 to 2017.[7] There has been heavy speculation that Burnham will re-stand as a MP and bid to become a future Labour leader. Burnham has repeatedly stated that he will complete a full second term of the mayoralty and has not specified beyond that point.[8][9] Burnham was a candidate for Labour Party leadership in 2015 and in 2010.[7] After joining the Labour Party in January 2022, former professional footballer Gary Neville was linked with a potential run as Greater Manchester mayor, which he refused to rule out.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "Directly elected mayors". www.local.gov.uk. Local Government Association. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Greater Manchester". Centre for Cities. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. ^ Dudman, Jane (3 November 2014). "What powers will the new mayor of Greater Manchester have?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Elections results 2021: Andy Burnham re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor". BBC News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Mayor of Greater Manchester". BBC News. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  6. ^ Hill, Jessica (16 March 2021). "Combined authority mayors set to be elected under first past the post". Local Government Chronicle. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Andy Burnham to pitch himself as Starmer's successor". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  8. ^ Batchelor, Tom (3 October 2021). "Burnham forced to back Starmer after allies 'give Labour leader 12 months'". The Independent. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  9. ^ Proctor, Kate (23 September 2021). "Andy Burnham: 'I'm not hatching any plans to get back to Westminster any time soon'". Politics Home. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  10. ^ Gary Neville joins Labour and considers move into politics The Guardian. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
Retrieved from ""