The Greater Manchester mayoral election count turned into a marathon, with Labour's Bev Craig finally declared the winner just after 11pm on Friday (July 31) - more than 24 hours after polls closed. It was a very different experience from June's thrilling Makerfield by-election count, when Andy Burnham stood for Labour on his journey to Number 10 Downing Street.
Record low turnout
At 2pm, turnout was revealed at 25.14 per cent - the lowest ever for the mayoral role in Greater Manchester. A total of 538,659 votes were cast from an electorate of 2,142,779. In the 2024 election turnout was 32.05 per cent; in 2021 it was 34.7 per cent.
Apathy towards politics, a lack of engagement with the mayoral role, people away for the summer holidays, and hundreds of students going home for the university break were all believed to have contributed. A well-placed source had told the Manchester Evening News early on that turnout was expected to be "outrageously low", with single figures in some Manchester wards. The figures raise serious questions about what it means for democracy in the region, though such discussions would have to wait for another day.
Second round victory
The election used the supplementary voting system, with voters choosing a first and second preference. At 7pm, it was announced that no candidate had reached 50 per cent of first preference votes. Labour's Bev Craig was closest, according to sources in the room, and progressed to a second round with Reform UK's Sian Astley. The other five candidates were eliminated. There was speculation from the start that it would go the distance. A few Labour insiders had earlier reckoned Craig might sneak through on first preferences, but it was not to be.
Just after 11pm, Craig was finally crowned the winner. The now ex-Burnage councillor woke up on Saturday (August 1) as Greater Manchester's new mayor. There were sighs and smiles around the venue as counting staff finally headed off into the night.
Inside the wait at Co-op Live
Friday morning had started quietly, with counting staff looking extremely bored and several seen yawning. As the day wore on, activists, journalists and council staff found plenty of time for chats. Green Party MP for Gorton and Denton Hannah Spencer turned up in a designer-looking shirt that wasn't designer. In June she had been criticised for wearing what appeared to be a Gucci shirt in Parliament; it turned out to be a £15 find from Oxfam.
Restore candidate Marlon West looked serious and was not keen to speak to the Manchester Evening News, going for a pint as soon as he learned he had not made the cut. Also spotted was Rebecca Shepherd, who stood against Andy Burnham in Makerfield and was previously the focus of attempts to locate Restore's "ghost" candidate. She and the rest of the Restore team stayed quiet again.
The Conservatives' Phil Eckersley and the Lib Dems' Richard Kilpatrick were not expecting big things and were happy to play their part, speaking to TV reporters as the wait continued.
Delays and false starts
By about 3pm there was a lull. Manchester had finished counting its votes, but the delay was caused by one of the other boroughs, with fingers pointed at Wigan. Counters in the main hall stopped like students who had finished an exam early, twiddling their thumbs. Several had brought books; one was reading The Judge's List by John Grisham, while another pulled out her knitting. Three counters played the Rizla/post-it game, guessing the name of a famous person stuck to their forehead.
Lib Dem activists were spotted watching ITV quiz show The Chase in the foyer, while Green Party members chatted in circles. Deputy Green leader Mothin Ali popped out for a box of ice creams for party members, and a few Labour councillors nipped out for a quick McDonald's - a chicken burger and a Filet-O-Fish, apparently.
There were false starts along the way. News was expected at 4pm, then 5pm. Ish. By 6.30pm, following multiple consultations with candidates, the hall was told nothing. One Labour figure lamented the switch to the alternative voting system: "Bring back First Past The Post... I love it, me!"
By then it was no surprise that a second round of counting would begin. Some called it a day and left, and counters' faces dropped as the 7pm announcement was made. Then the cavalry arrived with Co-op bags full of sandwiches and crisps. The Manchester Evening News understood by then that Craig had done very well among first preference voters.
Eventually the bored chatter gave way to anticipation. A buzz filled the room as 11pm approached, then the result came and Bev Craig was crowned Greater Manchester mayor. It brought to an end one of the slowest election counts in the history of politics - probably an exaggeration, but that's how it felt.
