Current political landscape

In May 2021, Labour’s Andy Burnham was re-elected as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, winning 67.3% of the vote. Second was Conservative candidate Laura Kathryn Evans with 19.6%. Turnout was 34.7%

This page brings together the key facts and figures about the area’s economy and asks what local residents see as the top priorities for the metro mayor.

Economic outlook

Greater Manchester consists of the following local authorities: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

Understanding how the city-region performs on key areas like productivity and employment helps the metro mayor to assess what they should prioritise. The table below shows how Greater Manchester compares to the UK average on these indicators.

What powers does the Greater Manchester metro mayor have?

Below is a summary of the powers the new Greater Manchester metro mayor has. The metro mayor has control over an integrated health and social care budget for the area, unlike the London mayor, who does not.

Three policy priorities for the Greater Manchester metro mayor

We outlined three priorities that the Greater Manchester metro mayor should prioritise.

Policy priority 1: Continue the turnaround of Manchester city centre to improve job opportunities for all Greater Manchester residents

• Use the convening power of the mayor to help Manchester city centre get back on its feet.
• Continue to support new city centre office space
• Make sure housebuilding keeps pace with demand, and is built where it is needed.

Policy priority 2: Better connect people to jobs and improve air quality by improving public transport and tackling congestion

• Introduce a congestion charge for Manchester city centre
• Add a higher charge for all diesels and other high-polluting vehicles
• Invest these revenues into the new franchised bus service.

Policy priority 3: Ensure young people have the skills and support to fully benefit from Greater Manchester’s growth

• Offer pre-apprenticeship training and apprenticeship mentoring
• Undertake an audit of adult education spend in Greater Manchester
• Use the convening role of the mayor to tackle the underperformance of Greater Manchester schools