Comfortable win in special UK contest clears the way for popular mayor to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for Labour leadership.
LONDON — Andy Burnham cleared a major hurdle in his quest to become Britain’s next prime minister Friday — winning the Makerfield by-election.
Labour’s Burnham comfortably beat his nearest rival, Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon, by more than 9,000 votes in the special contest. It’s a win which will significantly boost his standing among fellow Labour MPs who are already considering ditching Keir Starmer, a prime minister who has struggled to connect with the British public.
Burnham will now have a seat in parliament from which he can directly challenge Starmer by sparking a Labour leadership contest.
He used a victory speech in the early hours of Friday morning to tell his party it is facing its “final chance to change.”
“Tonight could, just could, be the turning point,” he said. “From here on, I will give everything I have got to make it so.”
He vowed: ”I will always take a place first rather than a party first approach and I will focus on problem solving rather than point scoring.”
Burnham, a former government minister who quit Westminster nine years ago to take the Manchester mayoralty, has pitched himself further to the left of Starmer, but his policy platform remains vague.
Starmer has struggled in the polls since winning a landslide in 2024, but has insisted he will fight any challenge from Burnham. The incumbent prime minister’s cabinet will now be closely watched for signs they could move against him in a bid to speed up an exit.
While the right-wing populist Reform UK tops national polls, the party’s bruising in Makerfield is a setback to Nigel Farage’s own plans to run Britain. The Trump ally’s party has faced its own challenge on the right from the smaller Restore Britain.
In the event, Burnham beat the combined vote for both right-wing parties in a constituency seen as unfavorable to Labour in recent years — a win that should put wind in the sails of his campaign for the top job.
The timing of Burnham’s expected challenge to Starmer is still unclear, although a key ally, Louise Haigh, said Friday morning that she hopes Starmer will opt for an “orderly and managed” transition from office. Haigh told the BBC Burnham won’t be challenging the PM “in the immediate aftermath” of the by-election, but will instead talk to Starmer.
She warned, however, that “dragging any process out” would be difficult for the Labour Party and the government Starmer leads.
Turnout in Makerfield stood at 58.75 percent, up sharply from the 52.5 percent at the 2024 general election, and bucking the trend for by-elections, which are generally much more minor events in the British political calendar.
A fresh by-election will be meanwhile triggered in Greater Manchester to replace Burnham as mayor because MPs are disqualified from serving as elected regional mayors.
This developing story is being updated.