Labour and Reform UK face second round in Greater Manchester mayoral election

Labour and Reform UK will go to a second round of votes in the Greater Manchester mayoral election after the first stage of the count failed to produce a winner. The Labour candidate, Bev Craig, and the Reform UK candidate, Sian Astley, are the two contenders left in the race, and Labour has said it is confident that Craig will be named Mayor of Greater Manchester at some point this evening.

Officials announced at 7pm that no winner had been declared after hours of counting. The confirmation came after major delays in the process, and the result of the election was still expected at any moment.

The election has been described as the largest by-election in British history, with an electorate of more than two million people across the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. Despite the scale of the electorate, turnout was historically low, making the contest unusual for reasons beyond its size.

The first results of the count confirmed Craig and Astley as the leading candidates, but neither was able to secure enough support in the initial round to be declared the winner. That left the race unresolved and forced a second round of counting to determine the outcome.

The second round is an additional stage of the counting process rather than a fresh election. It will decide which of the two candidates becomes the next Mayor of Greater Manchester, with Labour expecting Craig to be confirmed once the second round has been completed.

The by-election covers the whole of Greater Manchester rather than a single constituency, which explains the size of the electorate. With more than two million eligible voters spread across the ten boroughs, the count involved the processing of results from every part of the region.

Major delays had already pushed back the expected declaration time, and the move to a second round extended the wait for a result even further. The only point of certainty was that Craig and Astley would be the two candidates considered in the final stage.

For Reform UK, reaching the final round puts the party in contention for the mayoralty. The second round will determine whether Sian Astley can secure the post.

With the final result now expected this evening, all attention is still on the count. When the final declaration is made, it will bring an end to a by-election that has already made history by virtue of its scale.