Greater Manchester
English city region of ten boroughs with a directly elected mayor.
Greater Manchester is an English city region of ten metropolitan boroughs, governed by a directly elected mayor since 2017. Bev Craig won the mayoralty on 30 July 2026, succeeding Andy Burnham after he became prime minister.
Last refreshed: 3 August 2026
Timeline for Greater Manchester
Mentioned in: Craig puts £20m into high streets
UK Local Elections 2026Elected its mayor on 30 July 2026
UK Local Elections 2026: Craig wins Manchester in its first second roundHow English mayors got the transfer vote back
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Greater Manchester is a city region in North West England made up of ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. It has an electorate of 2,142,779, one of the largest of any English mayoral area .
The region has had a directly elected mayor since 2017, a post held by Andy Burnham until he vacated it on becoming prime minister in 2026. Bev Craig won the resulting by-election on 30 July, serving only until the scheduled 2028 election .
The 2026 contest was the first English mayoral election run under the restored Supplementary Vote, reinstated by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 for contests noticed on or after 18 June . It was also the first Greater Manchester mayoralty to require a second round of counting, a marker of how finely the electorate split between the leading candidates.