Andy Burnham has won the crucial Makerfield byelection by a huge majority, paving the way for a challenge to Keir Starmer’s premiership.
The Greater Manchester mayor beat the Reform UK candidate, Robert Kenyon, by 9,231 votes, and the new hardline Restore Britain party came a distant third.
Labour won 54% of the vote to Reform UK’s 35%, while Restore Britain secured 7%. Turnout was 58.75%, six percentage points up on the general election, with 45,510 votes cast.
In his victory speech, Burnham said the result “could be a turning point” and that people had “voted for change, they have voted for more power for the north and everywhere forgotten by Westminster”.
He said this was Labour’s “final chance to change”, adding: “There will be no second chance, but it is a chance now from this result tonight to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided politics of the kind we see in the United States.
“We must now take this up and put this country back on the right path and bring people back together and get things working properly.”
After the most consequential byelection in modern British history, Burnham is widely expected to mount a bid for No 10 if a formal leadership contest is triggered in the coming days.
However, his allies believe Starmer should be given time to set out a timetable for his departure, the Guardian revealed on Thursday, with some in his team having talked ministers out of resigning as soon as this weekend to stop the government falling into chaos.
The fact that Burnham secured 6,100 more votes than both Reform and Restore combined will hugely burnish his credentials for No 10 among Labour MPs and members.
Starmer congratulated Burnham on his win, saying: “Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate”.
The former health secretary appears to have won the support of an anti-Reform coalition of voters from across the spectrum, with the Conservatives, Liberal Dems and Greens winning only 3% of the vote between them. In 2024, the three parties collectively won 22% of the vote in this constituency.
The “King of the North”, who was first elected to parliament almost exactly 25 years ago and served in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, will return to Westminster nine years after he left.
Addressing hundreds of supporters, who cheered him into the Life convention centre in Wigan, Burnham said Makerfield would “never be a stepping stone to me – but instead will be my touchstone: A Makerfield test at the heart of British politics will ensure the places that Westminster has neglected will now get fairness.”
Voters had told him they felt “neglected” and that “the country works for other people and other places but not for here”, he said.
That changes tonight. This result changes that. This result will bring about a country that works fairly for everyone. People here have voted for change, they have voted for more power for the north and everywhere forgotten by Westminster. Now let’s give that back to them.”
His win means Labour faces another gruelling contest against Reform UK, this time to retain the Greater Manchester mayoralty. The byelection of 2 million voters will be one of the biggest in British political history, and is expected to be held on 30 July.
The Makerfield byelection was triggered when Josh Simons, the then Labour MP, agreed to stand down last month to allow Burnham to contest the seat and mount a challenge to Starmer’s ailing leadership.
Also Read: Makerfield by-election may throw up Burnham against Starmer
The prime minister has faced calls for his resignation over the disastrous appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the US, followed by elections in which Labour lost more than 1,200 local councillors and control of the Welsh Senedd in May.
Starmer has said he will not walk away from his post and that he intends to fight any challenge.
The prime minister is also facing a threat from his former health secretary Wes Streeting, who has indicated he is prepared to trigger a Labour leadership contest as early as next week.
The cabinet minister and Wigan MP, Lisa Nandy, described the victory as “history in the making”.
“What Andy’s shown here is that there is something that he brings, a willingness to go out and fight for the change that people need, to take on any system and any person who stands in the way and to be bold and to wear his heart on his sleeve, and people have responded.
“I think that with him back in the top team, at the top table, helping to drive that change, I think we’ll be in a really strong position.”
The Guardian
