The Invisible Election: Greater Manchester's Mayoral Race and the Politics of Attention
It should be one of the most consequential political contests in Greater Manchester's history. For the first time since the metro mayor role was created in 2017, Andy Burnham is not on the ballot. With Reform UK and the Green Party challenging Labour for a job that the new Prime Minister himself transformed, you might expect wall-to-wall coverage. Yet with polling stations opening in days, the campaign has felt remarkably subdued. This silence is not accidental. It reflects a deeper structural neglect of local democracy, a pattern that disproportionately affects working-class communities and marginalised groups who rely most on public services.
Why has this election been overshadowed?
The answer lies less with the candidates than with the extraordinary political moment. Normally, a contest to replace one of Britain's best-known politicians would command sustained attention. Instead, it has been squeezed by two national stories that consumed almost all available political oxygen. Andy Burnham's arrival in Downing Street became the defining story of the summer. Every cabinet appointment, policy announcement and diplomatic engagement generated headlines. The focus has been on what kind of Prime Minister he will be, how a self-described northern government will govern, and whether his promise to move power out of Whitehall represents a genuine constitutional shift. For Greater Manchester, there is understandable fascination in watching one of its own occupy the highest office in the country. National media have naturally devoted considerable attention to Burnham's transition from Manchester Town Hall to Number 10 because the implications extend far beyond the city region itself.
The second story competing for attention unfolded hundreds of miles away. The parliamentary by-election in Clacton became a national political event, framed as another crucial test of Nigel Farage and Reform UK's electoral strength. Mr Farage, under pressure over allegations of failing to declare a £5m gift from a crypto billionaire, responded by asking the people of Clacton to back him or sack him. The main parties, however, boycotted the election, leading to something of a circus. The by-election now sees a record number of candidates standing. None of them from the main parties, except Reform. Thirty four different candidates from Count Binface to Baron Von Thunderclap are on the ballot. National broadcasters, newspapers and political programmes have devoted extensive coverage to Essex, analysing what the result could mean for British politics. Reports indicate that in their desire to win a conclusive result on the south coast, teams of canvassers have been told to shift focus from Greater Manchester and Sian Astley's campaign and instead get involved in the bizarre fight between Nigel Farage and Count Binface for a seat Farage already held.
What does this neglect mean for marginalised communities?
This media blackout is not just an oversight. It is a systemic failure that reinforces the marginalisation of voices already pushed to the edges of political discourse. For LGBTQIA+ people, disabled people, migrants, and working-class communities in Greater Manchester, the mayoral election directly shapes their access to housing, transport, policing, and healthcare. Yet their concerns are being ignored while national media obsesses over a circus in Essex. As one senior party source expressed concern about how few people appear to know that there is an election going on, a reporter found a man on the street who assumed that Bev Craig would take on Andy Burnham's job almost as though it were a succession. He will not be the only person to think that.
Unlike previous contests, this mayoral election has perhaps lacked one defining issue capable of dominating public debate. Burnham's earlier campaigns were associated with clear political narratives, whether standing up to Westminster during the pandemic, bringing buses back under public control or championing further devolution. This campaign has been fought across a broad range of policy areas, from transport and housing to policing and economic development, but without one issue emerging as the clear dividing line between candidates. However, the Manchester Evening News mayoral hustings held at Chetham's School of Music earlier this month revealed sharp dividing lines between the parties on certain issues. Candidates clashed on a range of subjects including immigration, housing, gender identity and crucially Labour's record. Bev Craig and the Labour administration were repeatedly accused of ignoring the outer boroughs of Greater Manchester in favour of sustained growth in the city centre. These are precisely the debates that matter most to communities facing systemic oppression, yet they remain largely invisible to the national conversation.
How does low turnout reflect systemic disenfranchisement?
Despite the growing influence of the mayoralty in Greater Manchester, turnout has remained relatively modest throughout its history. The inaugural election in 2017 saw 28.9 per cent of voters cast a ballot, with Andy Burnham winning convincingly on 63.4 per cent of the vote ahead of Conservative Sean Anstee's 22.7 per cent. Four years later, despite Burnham's prominence during the Covid pandemic, turnout increased only slightly to around 34 per cent, with Burnham securing 67.3 per cent of first-preference votes, enough to win outright. The most recent election in 2024, held under first-past-the-post for the first time, produced the highest turnout yet at 32.05 per cent. Burnham won a third successive landslide with 63.4 per cent of the vote, finishing well ahead of Conservative Laura Evans on 10.4 per cent, while independent Nick Buckley and Reform UK's Dan Barker each polled around 7.5 per cent.
These figures suggest Greater Manchester's mayoralty has become more important faster than it has become embedded in public consciousness. The office has accumulated significant powers over transport, policing, housing and economic development, and has now even served as a launching pad to the premiership. Yet voter participation has only edged upwards over three elections. That makes the current contest all the more unusual: never has the office carried greater prestige, yet never has the campaign appeared so overshadowed by events elsewhere. This low turnout is not a sign of apathy. It is a symptom of systemic disenfranchisement, where marginalised communities are repeatedly told their votes do not matter, their voices do not count, and their concerns are not newsworthy.
What is at stake for intersectional justice?
Whoever emerges victorious next week will inherit far more than Andy Burnham's office. They will take charge of an increasingly powerful institution at a time when Greater Manchester appears likely to enjoy unprecedented influence at the heart of government. They will help determine whether the promises of further devolution become reality and whether the city region continues to shape national policy from outside Westminster. That is a prize of enormous consequence for everyone, but especially for those who have been systematically excluded from power. The next mayor will oversee policing in a region where Black and Brown communities face disproportionate stop-and-search rates. They will shape housing policy in a city where gentrification displaces working-class families and migrants. They will control transport in a region where disabled people still struggle to access the Bee Network. They will influence health policy in a post-pandemic landscape where neurodivergent and disabled people continue to fight for adequate care.
The irony is that an election with such significance has largely been fought while the political spotlight has been shining somewhere else. That should give politicians and voters pause for thought. It should also remind us that true democracy requires more than just devolving power. It requires devolving attention. It requires centering the voices of those most impacted by policy decisions, not just those who dominate the national headlines. As activists have long argued, we must #DefundTheMedia, #AbolishThePolice, and #BuildCommunityPower. The Greater Manchester mayoral election is a test case for whether we can shift our collective gaze from Westminster to the margins, from spectacle to substance, from the circus to the struggle.
Photo: Manchester Evening News