Labour's Andy Burnham elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester

The Mayor said British politics had been 'too London-centric for too long'

Andy Burnham was elected in the first round of counting (PA)

Labour's Andy Burnham has won the election for the newly created Mayor of Greater Manchester role.

Mr Burnham, the former MP for Leigh, won a majority of votes in the first round of counting with 63 per cent of the vote.

The newly elected Mayor said: “You have given me a big job to do and a big job with which to do it. I will give it my all and I won't let you down. All I can saw is wow, 63 per cent of the vote – pretty good."

Mr Burnham said Britain's political system “had been too London-centric for too long” and that there was a “crisis in politics”.

He continued: “Greater Manchester is going to take control, we are going to change politics and make it work better for people. We will give power and purpose to those people and places that Westminster has left behind. We will get the voice of the North heard more clearly than ever before.”

Labour won 63.4 per cent of the vote, the Conservatives on 22.7 per cent of the vote, the Lib Dems won 6.1 per cent o the vote, and the Greens 1.9 per cent of the vote.

There was much amusement at the election count after two returning officers accidentally described Mr Burnham as the candidate for "the Labour and Conservative Party" rather than the "Labour and Co-operative Party".

The victory was announced an hour after that of Steve Rotheram, who was confirmed as Labour's Mayor of Liverpool City Region by a large majority.

Reaching to Mr Burnham's victory, the shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "He won in virtually every element of that massive constituency by significant majorities so it is a fantastic result for him. If you remember Theresa May targeted the North-west – but both here and in Liverpool the Labour vote has held up very well."

More follows...