LONDON (AP) 鈥� Voters in the English city of Manchester are electing a new mayor Thursday to replace who quit the job to become Britain鈥檚 prime minister.
It鈥檚 also chance for some 2 million voters to pass judgment on the governing Labour Party, whose sagging popularity Burnham hopes to revive. Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with vote-counting starting Friday morning.
Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester for nine years until he for a seat in Parliament last month with the intention of challenging then- for the Labour leadership.
Burnham鈥檚 momentum spurred Starmer to announce he would resign after just two years in office. Burnham was the only candidate in Labour鈥檚 leadership election, and he on July 20.
He has established a branch of the prime minister鈥檚 office in the city, dubbed 鈥淣o. 10 North,鈥� to help fulfil his pledge to and spread economic growth around the country.
The Greater Manchester region has a population of about 3 million and includes the city of Manchester and surrounding towns. Burnham won three straight mayoral elections, in 2017, 2021 and 2024, and Labour candidate Bev Craig, the current leader of Manchester City Council, is hoping to retain the mayoralty for the party.
Burnham said serving as mayor had been an 鈥渋mmense privilege,鈥� and he urged voters to back Craig to 鈥渂uild on the progress we鈥檝e all made together.鈥�
Craig faces six other candidates, including Sian Astley from the anti-immigration party which won big in many areas of Greater Manchester in .
Labour has also lost voters to the , which won a special parliamentary election in the Gorton and Denton district of Greater Manchester in February, pushing Labour into third place and heightening concerns in the governing party about Starmer鈥檚 leadership. Those worries came to a head after the May election rout, leading to Starmer鈥檚 fall and Burnham鈥檚 rise.
Rob Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, said 鈥淟abour want a show of strength in a city region where the party has long been politically dominant.鈥�
鈥淎 big win in his former stomping ground will provide a significant boost for Andy Burnham,鈥� Ford wrote in a blog post for the U.K. in a Changing Europe think tank.
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