Labour's Bev Craig has won the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election (a contest to lead one of England's most powerful regional governments, covering ten boroughs and over 2 million voters) by a commanding margin, securing 47% of first-preference votes and 66.3% after second preferences were counted under the supplementary vote system. Craig, currently leader of Manchester City Council, will succeed Andy Burnham, who stepped down as mayor after winning a parliamentary seat in June. The result is a significant boost for Prime Minister Burnham's government, demonstrating Labour's ability to reclaim ground from both Reform UK, which finished second with 33.7% of the final count, and the Greens, despite Reform having made sweeping gains across the region just two months earlier.