Britain's ruling Labour Party comfortably retained the mayoralty of northern Greater Manchester on Friday, following an election triggered by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's return to parliament.

Bev Craig, currently the leader of Manchester City Council, was elected after winning 47.15 percent of the votes in the first round.

The anti-immigration Reform UK party, which has been riding high in national polls, came in second place with a 21 percent share.

Without the 50 percent of votes needed to win outright, the counting proceeded to a second round.

Labour then gained over 58,000 more votes when second preferences of eliminated candidates were taken into account, with Reform picking up 45,250 more votes, according to results published on the mayoral website.

Craig ended up with 309,525 first or second preference votes compared to 157,178 for Reform's Sian Astley.

More than two million people were eligible to vote in Thursday's poll. Turnout was just under 25 percent, according to the published results.

Burnham first won the post in 2017 and was re-elected twice, most recently in 2024 with 63 percent of the vote.

His staunch defence of the region earned him the nickname "King of the North".

Burnham announced in May that he would fight a by-election in the Makerfield constituency in order to try to return to parliament.

He won the seat in June, paving the way for him to return to Westminster and successfully challenge former prime minister Keir Starmer for the leadership of the party and country.

His two-week-old government announced earlier Friday plans to allow mayors to keep a share of taxes collected in their area to empower their regions.

The initiative is part of Burnham's drive to shift power out of the country's London seat of government. (AFP)





Edited by Robert Kemp