Labour has selected Bev Craig as its candidate for Greater Manchester mayor, the BBC reported on 23 June 2026. Craig is the leader of Manchester City Council and works on economic growth and business strategy for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

What is the mayor's job?

The Greater Manchester mayor is an elected official who runs one of the UK's largest city-regions — ten councils covering about 2.8 million people. The position was created in 2016 and carries real power: control of transport systems, decisions on where to invest money, and responsibility for how the area grows.

Andy Burnham, the current mayor since 2016, has said he will not run again. Craig's selection means Labour has now picked who it wants to replace him.

Why does this matter?

Craig is not a new name in the region. She has spent years in Greater Manchester's decision-making structures — as council leader and as the person overseeing economic strategy for the combined authority. This means voters can look at decisions she has already made, rather than guessing what she might do.

That works in two directions. It gives her a track record to point to, but it also gives opponents plenty of ground to challenge her record on.

The broader picture here is that Greater Manchester is one of England's most important devolution experiments. Giving cities real power to make their own choices — rather than having everything controlled from Westminster — was meant to show whether devolved authority could work better for local people. Who leads Greater Manchester matters beyond the region itself.

The Labour party has not yet announced when the mayoral election will be held. Other parties will put forward their own candidates, though none have been confirmed yet. The election will be held under supplementary vote rules — though the government is changing this to first-past-the-post for future mayoral elections under the Elections Act 2022.