Events prior to the election

In August, Burnham and the Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotherham pushed the government to pay workers asked to self-isolate by the contact tracing system during the COVID-19 pandemic,^[10] Burnham had also used the Mayors and Combined Authority resources to run a local contact tracing system where the national system had deficits.^[11] As the pandemic entered a period of increase in the Autumn the British government created a three tiered system for what local social and economic restrictions would be implemented. Greater Manchester was initially placed at tier 2 restrictions, however the government went into talks with the Mayor and the council leaders to put Greater Manchester into tier 3 restrictions. Burnham cited inadequate financial support for businesses and workers in the city-region as he wanted 80% furlough support of employee wages, the same as the first wave response.^[12] He had also stated he preferred a short, nation-wide lockdown known as a "circuit breaker".^[13][14] Following these negotiations, Burnham was angered by the government's implementation of stronger financial support in London for their tier 2 restrictions.^[15] Burnham's role in the negotiations led to him being described by various media sources as "King of the North", due to him using his position to not just fight for Greater Manchester but the wider North of England.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} Polling company YouGov asked people in Britain why they believed Burnham was negotiating- similar levels believed it was "party politics" and "the interests of Manchester", though the latter was more popular nationally and more significant in the North.^[21]

The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is a cooperative agreement between the mayor and the leaders of the ten councils on the use of land in Greater Manchester, such as housing development and use of the Green belt. The final draft was prepared for late 2020; however, there were fears that the borough of Stockport may reject the GMSF, prompting the mayor and other council leaders to warn politicians in opposition parties that rejecting the plan could lead to a greater loss of Green belt.^[22] The draft was published in October 2020 and signed by council leaders at the end of the month,^[23] anticipating a public consultation starting in December.^[24] However, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council councillors voted against signing the GMSF, leading to the other nine boroughs and the Greater Manchester Mayor to create the "Places for Everyone" plan, essentially the spatial framework plan for their boroughs.^[25]

In late-2020 it was revealed that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year and was placed "advanced phase" of monitoring by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. Mayor Burnham, who also has the role of police and crime commissioner, faced political pressure on this subject.^[26] Burnham responded by initiating a new "named officer" scheme to improve police accountability in the city .^[27][28] In later-January Burnham had stated that GMP had deliberately withheld information from his office, though he had not specified what information at the time.^[29]

Conservative Party

Laura Evans, a former Trafford councillor and parliamentary candidate, was selected as the Conservative candidate in February 2020.^[31]

Green Party

Melanie Horrocks was selected as the Green Party candidate in 2019; she was the party's Manchester Central candidate in the 2019 General Election.^[32]

Labour Party

Andy Burnham, the incumbent mayor and former shadow home secretary, announced his intention to seek re-election as mayor of Greater Manchester for the Labour Party in January 2020.^[33]

Liberal Democrats

Simon Lepori is a former healthcare worker^[34] who has previously stood in council elections in Trafford in 2016, 2018 and 2019, and was the party's candidate in the 2019 general election for the Wythenshawe & Sale East constituency. He was announced as the Liberal Democrats candidate on 19 January 2021.

Reform UK

Nick Buckley was announced as the Reform UK candidate on 12 March 2021.^[35]

Other candidates

• Stephen Morris stood as candidate for the English Democrats.^[36][37][38] He has previously stood in local council, European Parliament and UK Parliament elections for the party.
• Marcus Farmer.^[38] Previously stood in the 2017 mayoral election, as well as the 2010 and 2015 general elections in the Manchester Withington constituency.
• Alec Marvel.^[38]
• David Sutcliffe.^[38]

Individuals not standing

Andy Kelly, councillor and leader of the Liberal Democrats group in Rochdale, was confirmed as the Liberal Democrats' candidate in August 2019 following a vote by members in Greater Manchester.^[33] However, on 11 August 2020 Kelly stood down, stating that the delay in the election for a year has impacted his employment.^[39]

Michael Elston intended to run as an independent candidate, but ultimately could not do so because he filed defective paperwork.^[40] He intended to run on a platform centred on reforming civil penalties and justice in the courts.^[41] He had previously stood for election in Manchester City Council's Chorlton ward in 2018 and 2019.

Overall result

The incumbent mayor Andy Burnham retained his position within the first round, increasing his majority from the 2017 election by 10.2 percentage points with a swing from the Conservatives to Labour of 3.5 percentage points.

1st Preference Results by Borough

Bolton

Bury

Manchester

Oldham

Rochdale

Salford

Stockport

Tameside

Trafford

Wigan