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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...