With one day to go until Salford voters head to the polls to choose a new Greater Manchester mayor, residents are being reminded how they can elect Andy Burnham’s successor.
Mr Burnham became Greater Manchester’s first directly elected mayor in 2017 and went on to hold the post for Labour for nine years, winning again in 2021 and 2024.
The new Prime Minister had to resign in June when he was elected MP for Makerfield, triggering Thursday’s by-election.
Seven candidates will be on the ballot when more than two million people head to the polls in the biggest by-election in UK history.
But, unlike the previous three Greater Manchester mayoral elections, tomorrow’s by-election will use the supplementary vote (SV) system rather than the first-past-the-post method.
Under SV, voters mark their ballot papers with a first and second choice.
If any candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the first-choice votes, they are declared the winner.
But if no candidate has more than 50 per cent of first-choice votes, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and the count moves to a second round.
The ballot papers of the eliminated candidates are counted again and if there are any second-choice votes for the two remaining candidates, these are added to their first-choice totals.
The candidate with the highest overall total of first and second-choice votes is declared the winner.
Voters do not have to mark a second choice on their ballot papers, but they must mark a first choice or else their vote will not be counted.
Polls will open across Salford and the rest of Greater Manchester on Thursday at 7am and close at 10pm.
Votes will be counted the following day, Friday, with the result not likely until the afternoon.
Greater Manchester mayoral election candidates (in alphabetical order by surname) are listed as follows:
– Sian Astley (Reform UK)
– Geraldine Coggins (Green Party)
– Bev Craig (Labour)
– Phil Eckersley (Conservative Party)
– Marcus Farmer (Independent)
– Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats)
– Marlon West (Restore Britain)
