Andy Burnham has been re-elected as the mayor of Greater Manchester.
The Labour politician received 67% of the vote with his main opponent, the Conservative’s Laura Evans, receiving just 16.8%.
The Greens came third on 4.5%, followed by the Liberal Democrats.
Burnham added 4% on his vote share from four years before when he was first elected to the role.
The result was one of the better outcomes of the local elections for Labour after it struggled to make a breakthrough in the north of England.
One Labour source said: “We’ve clearly bucked the trend in Manchester because people love Andy. I think people respected how he stood up to the government during the pandemic and clearly won a lot of people’s trust.”
Speaking after the result was declared, Burnham said: “This vote sends a clear message to all Westminster parties.
“People are buying into English devolution. They are telling you to deliver more of it, not less.”
Turnout was almost 35% – up from the 29% that voted in the mayoral election in 2017.
MORE: No 10 claims they expect Andy Burnham to be leader of Labour by 2024
Steve Rotheram has also been re-elected the Liverpool City region mayor.
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