Labour candidate Bev Craig has won the largest by-election in British history as she was voted in as Greater Manchester mayor, succeeding Andy Burnham in the job.
The result was announced late on Friday night, more than 24 hours after polling stations closed, in a comfortable win, although with a low turnout.
Ms Craig won 47.15% of votes in the first round, just short of the 50% needed to win outright in the Supplementary Vote (SV) system, so there was a second round against Reform UK candidate Sian Astley, on 20.99%.
Labour gained 58,076 more votes when the second preferences of the five eliminated candidates were distributed, with Reform getting 45,250, leaving Ms Craig on 309,525 and Ms Astley on 157,178.
More than two million people were eligible to vote in the contest, triggered by Mr Burnham’s election to Parliament last month, but the turnout was just under 25%.
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