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Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election has raised the possibility that the Labour politician could challenge U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the party's leadership and become the country's new leader.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday he would not walk away, vowing ​to fight any challenge from his leading party rival Andy Burnham and potentially ushering in a new bout of political instability. Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, won ‌a decisive victory for Labour to claim a parliamentary seat in northwest England, and has signalled that he will use it to enter any contest to replace Starmer. The scale of his victory in Makerfield in northwest England prompted more Labour lawmakers to say Starmer, unpopular and under pressure from the populist Reform UK in surveys, should consider stepping...

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Andy Burnham against launching an immediate challenge to his leadership if he becomes an MP, urging him, and the party, to focus instead on the election for a new Greater Manchester mayor. If Burnham wins in Makerfield on Thursday he would have to resign as Manchester mayor, with a by-election to replace him expected by 6 August. Burnham is widely anticipated to challenge the prime minister for the leadership, if he is elected to Parliament. Speaking from the G7 summit, the prime minister said a leadership contest would be a "bad thing" for the country...

Reform UK has been put in a dangerous position ahead of the Makerfield parliamentary by-election by a rival right-wing party. In what is likely to be Britain's most important by-election in history, Restore Britain, led by Rupert Lowe, is splitting the vote. Lowe is a former Reform UK MP who was ejected from the party. Times Radio presenter Rod Liddle commented that Restore is dividing the electorate in "an incredibly stubborn manner". The by-election on June 18 was triggered when Labour MP Josh Simons stepped down specifically to allow Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to run for Parliament. If he...

In a handful of former mining towns and villages in north-west England, there is a lot of frustration with the state of the UK. It is common to hear people say "Britain is broken", "we are forgotten", and calls for "change". This is the Makerfield constituency, where locals are being heard louder than ever before in the most consequential by-election in decades. A constituency that made up 0.1% of voters at the last general election is not only picking a new MP on 18 June. Voters here are also potentially choosing the next prime minister. That is because Labour's candidate,...

Voters in perhaps the most consequential special election ever held in Britain are angry, and they really want someone to feel their pain. That’s the clear verdict from a special focus group by Public First for POLITICO of voters in Makerfield, the former mining area in northwest England whose June 18 vote could determine the next prime minister. Some in the group said Andy Burnham, the Labour candidate who is hot favorite to succeed party leader Keir Starmer as PM if he can get himself back into Parliament, might make a difference. But the overwhelming mood during the 90-minute conversation...

BREAKING: Another Makerfield by-election poll has been released 🔴 LAB - 45% ➡️ REF - 40% 🟣 RES - 8% 🟢 GRN - 3% 🔵 CON - 2% 🟠 LD - 1% Via More in Common, 515 sample, 28 May - 12 June

The UK is on a path towards the “poisonous” politics of the US under the current Labour leadership, Andy Burnham has said. Discourse is becoming more polarised and “communities don’t work together any more”, he said during a campaign speech. The Greater Manchester mayor, who hopes to return to Westminster in next week’s Makerfield by-election, and has made no secret of his Labour leadership ambitions, has been critical of Sir Keir Starmer’s direction. He asked the audience: “Does anyone here feel that we can just stay on the path that we’re on as a country? “It doesn’t feel doable, does...

With less than a week to go to the by-election, the mayor of Greater Manchester has a narrow lead over Reform UK, according to a new poll

If Andy Burnham wins Thursday's election in Makerfield, the seat he needs to challenge ​Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the country's leadership, it may have less to do with his own appeal than the feuding of two populist right-wing parties splitting their vote. The ‌election is shaping up to be one of the most consequential one-off contests in modern British political history. The 77,000 voters who live in Makerfield, in northern England, could decide the identity of the prime minister governing almost 70 million people. Opinion polls show Burnham, currently the governing Labour Party's mayor of Greater Manchester, could win...

Greater Manchester Mayor ​Andy Burnham is ‌considering holding a snap ​general election ​if he becomes ⁠British prime ​minister, the ​Sun newspaper reported on Saturday. He is ​also lining ​up British interior ‌minister ⁠Shabana Mahmood to be his chancellor, the ​newspaper ​reported, ⁠citing Labour insiders. Reuters ​could not ​immediately ⁠verify the report.

Tony Blair has accused Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting of putting Labour’s future at risk by abandoning the centre ground, warning that the party’s “almost infinite capacity for self-delusion” means it is likely to lose the next election. In a scathing 5,700-word attack on the prime minister and his would-be successors published on Tuesday night, Blair argued for the government to crack down on welfare spending, abandon restrictions on oil and gas and smooth relations with Donald Trump. His essay, a highly unusual intervention for a past Labour prime minister, is likely to draw a furious response from...

Sir Sadiq Khan has accused Sir Keir Starmer of failing to deliver on Labour’s election promises. The Mayor of London also said that the Prime Minister’s speech after Labour’s local elections disaster, in which he vowed to face up to the big challenges the country faces, was “not enough”. He also heaped praise on Andy Burnham, and refused to say whether or not he would want him to lead Labour into the next election should he win the Makerfield by-election next month.

Andy Burnham could lead Labour to victory against Reform in a general election, polling reveals. The survey, carried out by More in Common, found that Labour would get an eight-point boost with Mr Burnham at its helm if he succeeded in his attempt to become the next party leader. The “Burnham bounce” would secure Labour 30 per cent of votes, three points ahead of Nigel Farage’s party which has consistently led the opinion polls since the autumn of 2025. This week, Mr Burnham was selected as Labour’s candidate to fight the Makerfield by-election, where he is tipped to beat Robert...

MEMBERS OF THE UK Labour Party are preparing to challenge their embattled leader, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to multiple reports published in the British media today. Starmer has been under pressure over his numerous U-turns on policy decisions since taking office in 2024. Having appeared to fend moves against him from senior members of his party earlier this year, Starmer has found himself in the spotlight again recently over the appointment of Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Now, with a number of elections looming across the UK, and polling indicating a blowout for...

Bookmakers place former health secretary ahead of Yvette Cooper, Chuka Umunna and others to take over in wake of Miliband resignationAndy Burnham has emerged as the favourite to replace Ed Miliband, after the Labour leader stood down in the hours after the party’s disastrous general election result. Bookmakers placed the former health secretary ahead of Yvette Cooper, Chuka Umunna and others to take over from Miliband. According to one bookmaker, David Miliband was also in the running. But others agreed that Dan Jarvis and Tristram Hunt had a better chance. The contenders Andy Burnham Live Election live: Osborne and May...

David Cameron has been challenged to prove Tory support for the Health Service is more than 'skin deep'. Health Secretary Andy Burnham called on him to expel from his party Daniel Hannan, the MEP who went on U.S. television to call the NHS a '60-year-old mistake'. Lord Mandelson attacked Mr Cameron as 'a fraud'. The Business Secretary claimed: 'He's different when he thinks people aren't looking or listening. And the sentiments he expresses in Britain are not shared by his party, so there is a double fraud.' The Tory leader faced further pressure after evidence emerged that senior Tories would...

THE ratings used for films could be applied to websites in a bid to better police the internet and protect children from harmful and offensive material, Britain's minister for culture has said. Andy Burnham told Britain's The Daily Telegraph newspaper the government was planning to negotiate with the administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to draw up new international rules for English language websites. "The more we seek international solutions to this stuff - the UK and the U.S. working together - the more that an international norm will set an industry norm," the newspaper reports the Culture Secretary as...