Mayoral election date set for if Burnham wins Makerfield

A date has been confirmed for a Greater Manchester mayoral by-election if Andy Burnham wins a seat in Parliament in Makerfield.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said 30 July has been identified as the date any poll would take place.

Burnham, who was first elected as mayor in 2017, is one of 14 candidates running to become an MP in Makerfield triggered by Labour MP Josh Simons standing down.

Should he win, the former cabinet minister has said he would seek to enter any potential Labour leadership contest.

You can see a full list of the candidates and their manifestos here for the by-election being held on 18 June.

About 2.1m people are registered to vote in Greater Manchester's mayoral election and of these, about 400,000 choose to do so by post.

The GMCA's returning officer, Caroline Simpson, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "To ensure we are ready, we have identified 30 July as the date which will allow the maximum number of people to vote, whether in person, by post or by proxy.

"This will avoid holding an election during the peak holiday period in August and will mean that postal votes will arrive just before, or only a day or two into, the school holidays."

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