2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election


The 2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election will be held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of Greater Manchester. This election, alongside other local and mayoral elections across England and Wales, was originally scheduled to take place on 7 May 2020, but was delayed by the UK Government on 13 March 2020 due to the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. The election will take place the same day as council elections within the city-region, including the election for the mayor of Salford, as well as elections across England and Wales. It will be the second election to the position of mayor. It will use the supplementary vote as its electoral system.

Background

The mayor of Greater Manchester serves as the directly elected leader of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The mayor has power over investment directly to the combined authority from the government of £30 million a year for 30 years from 2017. The mayor also incorporates the Police and Crime Commissioner role of the Greater Manchester Police into the post. In addition to these, the mayor has authority over strategic housing planning, transport, adult educationand skills, social care and others.
The first election for the role was held in 2017, Labour candidate Andy Burnham won with 63% of the vote in the first round.
As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom the government announced on the 13 March 2020 that it would postpone the mayoral election, along with all other scheduled local government elections across the UK, for one year. The Coronavirus Act 2020 received royal assent 12 days later on the 25 March 2020 giving legal effect to the government's announcement. This was the first such postponement of elections since the foot-and-mouth outbreak caused a one-month delay of the 2001 local elections.

Electoral system

The election will use a supplementary vote system, in which voters express a first and a second preference for candidates.
This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.
All registered electors living in Greater Manchester aged 18 or over on 7 May 2020 will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. Those who are temporarily away from Greater Manchester will also be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election will be announced nearer the election.

Candidates

Conservative Party

Laura Evans, a former Trafford councillor and parliamentary candidate, was selected as the Conservative candidate in February 2020. As an executive member on Trafford Council, Evans received the 'Employer Supported Policing Award' for generous changes to officers' paid leave and, in 2014, received a Hero's award for community work.

Green Party

Melanie Horrocks was selected as the Green Party candidate in 2019.

Labour Party

, the incumbent mayor and former shadow home secretary, announced his intention to seek re-election as mayor of Greater Manchester for the Labour Party in January 2020.
Andrew Burnham was the key figure in the introduction of an annual charge on old age pensioners who wished to use their travel passes on Trains and Trams within Greater Manchester |url= https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/town-hall-leaders-agree-10-16670401

Liberal Democrats

Andy Kelly, councillor and leader of the Liberal Democrats group in Rochdale, was confirmed as the Liberal Democrats candidate on 17 August following a vote by Liberal Democrat members in Greater Manchester.

Campaign

The incumbent mayor Andy Burnham pledged to take the bus services of Greater Manchester into public ownership, establish an integrated ticket system for all buses and Metrolink trams, make the city-region carbon neutral by 2038 and build 30,000 social homes over the next decade. The BBC has noted that should the metro mayor take the buses back into public ownership it would be the first place outside of London to do so.