Andy Burnham has today made history in becoming Greater Manchester’s first-ever regional elected-mayor.
Mr Burnham, MP for Leigh, polled 359,352 votes across the region and came top in each of the 10 boroughs.
He secured 63.41% of the first preference vote – 230,600 more than his nearest rival, the Conservatives’ Sean Anstee who took 128,752 first preference votes.
As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham will be given more power to shape things in the region particularly on policies relating to housing, transport and social care, among others.
The position will also combine that of the police and crime commissioner, a position fellow former Labour MP Tony Lloyd has held since November 2012.
Mr Lloyd, who stood against Mr Burnham in the battle to become the Labour candidate for the mayoralty, is set to throw his hat into the ring to stand as Labour candidate in Rochdale in next month’s General Election.
Labour are looking for a new candidate there after the party’s ruling NEC decided that current MP Simon Danczuk could not stand. Danczuk has been suspended from the party since 2015 after newspaper reports he’d been ‘sexting’ a 17-year-old girl.
