Mayor of Greater Manchester
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| Mayor of Greater Manchester | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Post | Mayor of Greater Manchester |
| Body | Greater Manchester Combined Authority |
| Incumbent | Andy Burnham |
| Incumbentsince | 2017 |
| Style | Mayor |
| Seat | Manchester |
| Appointer | Electorate of Greater Manchester |
| Termlength | 4 years |
| Formation | 2017 |
| Inaugural | Andy Burnham |
Mayor of Greater Manchester The Mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected civic leader of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester and the chair of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Created through devolution agreements between the UK Government and regional authorities, the office combines strategic oversight for transport, housing, planning, and health with statutory duties derived from the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 and subsequent devolution deals signed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Greater Manchester authorities. The mayor works alongside local council leaders from the ten boroughs of Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Salford, Wigan, and Manchester.
Origin and establishment
Devolution negotiations in the 2010s between the Coalition Government and city-regions led to a framework for elected metro-mayors, influenced by precedents such as the London Mayor established by the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and the model of the Greater London Authority. Following the 2014 Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 deliberations and bilateral talks with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greater Manchester secured a bespoke devolution deal signed in 2014 and expanded in 2015–2016. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority, formed in 2011 by the ten metropolitan borough councils and chaired by a rotating leader, negotiated the creation of a directly elected mayor to deliver an expanded package of powers, budgetary control, and responsibilities across Transport for Greater Manchester, NHS England, and regional housing bodies.
Powers and responsibilities
The mayor holds statutory functions transferred under the devolution agreement, including control over regional transport funding and oversight of Transport for Greater Manchester, responsibility for a consolidated housing and planning budget negotiated with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and strategic leadership on health commissioning aligned with NHS Greater Manchester. The office also manages the Greater Manchester Investment Framework alongside entities such as the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership and coordinates skills and employment initiatives with bodies like the Department for Education and Work and Pensions Secretary initiatives. The mayor chairs the Greater Manchester Combined Authority meetings, working with the council leaders of Manchester City Council, Salford City Council, Trafford Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Oldham Council, Rochdale Borough Council, Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, Wigan Council, and Bolton Council to implement region-wide strategies on transport, housing, health, economic development, and climate change actions committed under frameworks such as the Cities and Local Growth Devolution Act and regional sustainability accords.
Election and term of office
The mayor is elected by the electorate of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester under rules set out by the Local Government Act 2000 and electoral regulations overseen by the Electoral Commission. Elections take place on a four-year cycle with eligibility and nomination procedures administered by the respective returning officers of Greater Manchester Returning Officer arrangements. Candidates are typically endorsed by national political parties such as the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, or the Liberal Democrats, while independent and smaller-party candidates, including representatives of the Green Party of England and Wales and regional independents, also stand. The voting system adopted for the inaugural contest was first-past-the-post following national reforms, with subsequent arrangements reflecting statutory provisions and guidance from the Cabinet Office and electoral law.
List of mayors
- Andy Burnham (2017–present) — Formerly a Member of Parliament for Leigh (UK Parliament constituency), served as Secretary of State for Health and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in Gordon Brown and Tony Blair administrations before election as mayor in 2017 and re-election in subsequent cycles.
(Note: This list comprises directly elected incumbents since the post's creation in 2017; the Greater Manchester Combined Authority had chairs prior to the mayoralty, including leaders of local authorities such as Richard Leese and Tony Lloyd.)
Administration and supporting bodies
The mayor is supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s executive team, professional officers, and constituent organisations including Transport for Greater Manchester, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s policy directorates, and boards such as the Greater Manchester Pension Fund oversight, the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, and joint committees on health and social care integration with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission. The mayor appoints a mayoral cabinet drawn from the ten boroughs’ leaders and advisers with portfolios covering transport, housing, policing liaison with Greater Manchester Police, and climate change delivery aligned with the Greater Manchester Strategy. Scrutiny of the mayor’s decisions is exercised by combined authority scrutiny panels, select committees in the constituent councils, and audit functions coordinated with bodies like the National Audit Office and local government ombudsmen.
Policies and initiatives
Mayoral policy priorities have included transport investment programmes working with Transport for Greater Manchester on bus franchising and the Bee Network proposals, a regional housing plan linked to the Homes England funding streams, public health and social care integration reforms with NHS Greater Manchester and Health and Social Care Secretariat partners, skills and apprenticeship drives in collaboration with the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and climate action initiatives pledging carbon neutrality aligned with the Committee on Climate Change recommendations. Initiatives have also addressed devolution of business support delivered with the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, initiatives to reduce inequalities partnered with think tanks such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and public safety measures coordinated with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and Greater Manchester Police.