Greater Manchester mayoral polling stations open.

Polling stations across Greater Manchester have opened in a mayoral election that saw Andy Burnham step down as the city’s mayor.

MPs are not allowed to be mayors, meaning Burnham had to stand down after winning a by-election in Makersfield last month. His election as a Member of Parliament paved the way for him to become Prime Minister earlier this month.

Voters are now choosing which candidate they want to represent them as Mayor of Greater Manchester and Leader of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Polling stations open at 07:00 BST and close at 22:00. The result will be declared on Friday.

Here is a list of the seven candidates in the mayoral election, in alphabetical order, by name:

The election is decided using a supplementary vote (SV) system – meaning voters can vote for both a first and second choice candidate.

If no one wins more than 50% of the first vote, all but the top two candidates will be eliminated.

The second votes of the other candidates will be kept elsewhere.

Whichever of the top two candidates gets the most votes is declared the winner after this “run-off” round.

The location of your nearest polling station can be found by searching on your poll card or on your local council’s website.