Bev Craig to become Greater Manchester mayor after by-election win

Bev Craig will succeed UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham as Greater Manchester's mayor after winning Thursday's by-election.

The Labour candidate claimed victory after securing 309,525 votes over Reform's Sian Astley who won 157,178.

Burnham stood down after winning the Makerfield by-election in June to return to the House of Commons. He subsequently became prime minister on 20 July.

But who is Bev Craig, what has she done, and what does she stand for?

Will she closely follow her predecessor's agenda or does she have different priorities for a city region which consists of 10 boroughs and is home to more than two million people?

Having grown up on a council estate in Belfast, Craig moved to Manchester in 2003 at the age of 18 to study politics and modern history at the University of Manchester.

After graduating, she began her career in local government. She went on to work in higher education and then at a national trade union, leading on social care.

Craig was first elected as a councillor for the Burnage ward on Manchester City Council in 2011.

She was executive member for adult social care and health throughout the Covid-19 global pandemic, before becoming deputy council leader in 2021.

Craig soon took over as leader when Sir Richard Leese stood down after 25 years in the role.

Her promotion made her the local authority's first female boss and the council's first openly gay leader.

The 41-year-old has also held the role of deputy mayor for economy, business and inclusive growth on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours List in 2025 for services to local government.

As council leader, Craig has overseen sustained annual economic growth in Manchester of more than 3% during the last decade, making it one of the fastest growing city economies in Europe.

The main criticism since Craig became council leader has been around the lack of affordable housing at a time when skyscrapers have been built in the city centre.

Although, in her tenure the local authority has built social housing for the first time in 40 years.

In November 2025, children's services in Manchester were rated as "outstanding" by inspectors after a decade-long process of improvement.

The service had been rated "inadequate" by Ofsted in 2014 and it was not until 2022 that it was deemed to be "good".

However, an issue that has brought negative headlines during Craig's career has been crime and anti-social behaviour, notably in the city centre's flagship communal area of Piccadilly Gardens.

The latest in a long line of multi-million pound plans to revamp it was launched in February 2026 and work is under way to make it "an attractive world-class space".

Despite a high-profile policing operation, regular incidents of violence still occur there.