UK: Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham wins parliament seat

Labour politician Andy Burnham on Friday won a key by-election that puts him in a position to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and ultimately the UK.

Burnham beat the hard-right Reform UK party's candidate in the Makerfield by-election in northwest England.

The veteran Labour politician won almost 25,000 votes while Rob Kenyon of Nigel Farage's Reform UK came second with over 15,600 votes.

That was an unusually high turnout for a by-election, with the Labour party having thrown everything behind the campaign in the Greater Manchester constituency.

Burnham says Labour has 'a final chance to change'

"Everyone knows that politics isn't working," Burnham said in his victory speech. "Everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.

"I do say to my own party, this is a final chance to change," Burnham added. "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 divisive, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States,” he said.

Possible candidate to replace Starmer

Burnham has been serving as the mayor of Greater Manchester, one of the UK's largest cities and a traditional Labour heartland.

Having now won a seat in the House of Commons, he becomes a frontrunner to possibly topple Starmer.

The Labour Party under Starmer performed poorly in May's local elections, with demands from within his own ranks to resign.

Labour lost more than 1,400 council seats around England, losing influence both to Reform UK on the populist right and the Greens on the populist left. 

Burnham will head to London to be sworn in as a lawmaker as soon as Monday.

Will Keir Starmer go?

Dozens of Labour party lawmakers have called for Keir Starmer to resign, with the leadership crisis having been triggered by a round of elections last month.

On Friday, Burnham's campaign manager, former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, told the BBC she hoped Starmer would consider "an orderly and managed transition."

Starmer will now hold talks with senior lawmakers to see if he has the support to carry on in his role.

If Burnham were to succeed in challenging Starmer in a leadership contest, he would become the UK's seventh prime minister since the country voted to leave the EU 10 years ago.

Starmer 'not going to walk away'

Prime Minister Starmer made his thoughts on a potential leadership challenge clear while speaking with reporters in London on Friday.

"If there is a contest... I will stand. And I've said repeatedly, I'm not going to ​walk away," Starmer said.

Starmer said it would be best for Labour to maintain control over both Greater Manchester and Downing Street rather than engage in inner-party power struggles that could see both lost.

"The one thing we've got to avoid doing is plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing apart our party," he said. "That has never worked."

Edited by: Sean Sinico

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