Voters in Greater Manchester went to the polls on Thursday to choose a new mayor after Andy Burnham stepped down to become Prime Minister. Polling stations were open from 7am to 10pm, but no exit poll was conducted for the by-election. Counting is set to begin at 9am on Friday.
Seven candidates stood in the election: Sian Astley (Reform UK), Geraldine Coggins (Green Party), Bev Craig (Labour and Co-operative Party), Phil Eckersley (Conservative and Unionist Party), Marcus Farmer (Independent), Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats), and Marlon West (Restore Britain).
Supplementary voting system
Under the supplementary voting system, if a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, they are elected. If not, the top two candidates go to a second round, where second-choice votes for the remaining two are added to their first-choice totals. The candidate with the highest combined total wins.
YouGov poll shows Craig in lead
A YouGov poll published on July 17, based on responses from 2,200 Greater Manchester residents, indicated Labour's Bev Craig is set to beat Reform UK's Sian Astley by 62% to 38% in the second round. On first preferences, Craig leads with 38%, followed by Astley on 24%, the Greens' Geraldine Coggins on 17%, the Conservatives' Phil Eckersley on 11%, Restore Britain's Marlon West on 7%, the Lib Dems' Richard Kilpatrick on 3%, and independent Marcus Farmer on less than 1%.
The poll also found that 66% of Greater Mancunians thought Burnham did a good job as mayor, and 44% believed he was right to step down to return to Westminster.
