BREAKING: Andy Burnham is nominated as Labour's candidate for Manchester mayor

Mr Burnham paid tribute to the other candidates, Bury MP Ivan Lewis and current interim mayor Tony Lloyd as well as Sir Howard Bernstein, the current chief executive of Manchester City Council.

He said: "They showed my generation of politicians that we could have high hopes for what Greater Manchester could be in the future. I will seek to carry that flame forward."

The mayoral position is the final piece of the jigsaw in former Chancellor George Osborne's vision for devolution to the North of England. The mayor is accountable for the multi-million pound transfer of power from Whitehall to Manchester's combined authority. This includes spending on the NHS.

Mr Burnham said he will fight to bring decision making closer to Manchester and break the "London centric" nature of politics.

He said: "I will be a grassroots mayor for Manchester and each and every one of its proud towns as well as its city centre.

"I will give Labour a strong Northern identity. I will bring back voters we have lost.

"I am in this to close the North-South divide. To show there is a better way than the Tory way, that we can put profits before people.

"You promised a powerhouse...we demand that investment."

The election will take place in 2017.

Among his policy ideas is a free bus pass for every 16 and 18 year old in full time education and promoting comprehensive education.

He said: "Contrary to what you may have read, I have many roots here. I grew up in Leigh and my great-grandfather was a trade unionist in Salford," he said.

"I jump on the bandwagon of the Manchester music scene in the mid-1980s," he joked, making light of the fact many have criticised he is not from Manchester.

He said he will stand down as MP for Leigh if he is elected mayor of Manchester.