Andy Burnham’s supporters are urging British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to spell out, within days, a timetable for stepping aside in September — arguing that clarity at the top could be crucial to protecting Labour’s chances in the looming Greater Manchester mayoral contest, it is understood.
Mr Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election has set up a battle for No 10 as earlier today the Prime Minister made clear he will fight any challenge to his position.
Backers close to the outgoing Greater Manchester mayor are not pushing for an immediate handover, it is understood, saying they want time to prepare to govern should Mr Burnham succeed in forcing Mr Starmer out.
Mr Burnham’s election today as the MP for Makerfield also means he is giving up the mayoral role he has held since 2017, with a contest to replace him set for 30 July.
Reform UK, who made sweeping gains in the area at May’s local elections, and the Greens, who won the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, will both be hoping to win over voters in the traditional Labour stronghold.
Allies of Mr Burnham are understood to want Mr Starmer to set out a timetable to depart in September over the coming days, with some believing the mayoral race would be harder for the party to win with no prospect of a change in leader.
Burnham says his win could be a ‘turning point’
Mr Starmer, however, has signalled he is ready to confront any would-be challengers if a contest is triggered by Mr Burnham’s return to Westminster — after the new MP bucked wider national patterns by growing Labour’s vote share in Makerfield.
The Prime Minister said he will not “walk away” from Downing Street and has been holding calls with members of his cabinet to shore up support in the wake of the by-election result, as first reported by The i Paper.
Speaking to reporters at an event in north London, Mr Starmer said: “If there is a contest, then yes, I will stand.
“I have said repeatedly, I am not going to walk away from that.”
Mr Starmer said he has not yet spoken directly to Mr Burnham since the by-election, but said he intends to and that he had already sent a message congratulating him.
During a lunchtime call with Labour staffers, he appealed for unity as the party seeks to take on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, warning colleagues against “turning on each other”.
He said: “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 and our movement.
“That has never worked. That’s what the last government did. We need to learn that lesson.”
Read more: The road from Wigan Pier – in the end it wasn’t close
Mr Starmer is understood to have amassed a war chest to fund his campaign to fight any leadership challenge with the backing of a group of private donors, as first reported by The Times.
Fundraising has ramped up in the last two days with total pledges running into six figures, sources said.
Addressing a Labour rally after his victory, leadership hopeful Mr Burnham framed the result as a moment for reset, saying: “We’ve been on a path for 40 years that simply hasn’t worked for people and places in this part of the world, and this now is the change moment.
“We have an opportunity to turn the tide, to make the country feel like it’s working again, to make people see that politics can make a positive difference, to make people feel hope again.”
He added: “I think we need in this country right now for people to feel a sense of hope that there is something better to work towards on the horizon.”
Setting out themes he would prioritise if he replaced Mr Starmer, Mr Burnham pointed to reindustrialisation, changes to Whitehall and ending what he described as the “unfairness” of the immigration system.
Makerfield is the third successive parliamentary by-election in which Nigel Farage’s political outfit has come second over the last year, following the Caerphilly by-election for the Welsh parliament in October, and the Gorton and Denton Westminster by-election in February.
Counting in the Makerfield by-election
Mr Burnham defeated Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon by 9,231 votes, up from 5,399 in 2024, and Labour’s vote share increased by 9.61%.
After the result, he said Labour had a “final chance to change” and pressed his party to move quickly, warning that the opportunity would not come around again.
He said: “Everyone knows that politics isn’t working. Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”
Seeking to rebut claims he had pursued the Makerfield seat chiefly to advance his own prospects, Mr Burnham said: “It will never be a stepping stone to me, but instead will be my touchstone.
“A Makerfield test at the heart of British politics will make sure that the places Westminster has neglected will now get fairness.”
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Louise Haigh, a former minister in Mr Starmer’s cabinet, called on the Prime Minister to outline an orderly transition and reach agreement with Mr Burnham on a “path forward” in the coming days.
She said: “I hope the Prime Minister takes the weekend to really reflect on the result here – listen to soundings from the Cabinet and the PLP, because all the evidence suggests that a contest will be brutal, it will be unpleasant and it will be very unlikely that the Prime Minister is going to win at the end of it.”
Asked if they had a “campaign ready to go”, she said: “Yes.”
Ms Haigh said: “We really hope that this can be a managed and orderly transition and Keir Starmer will reflect on the results, and Andy and Keir can meet in the coming days, and over the next week, and agree a path forward.”
She said “all the agency is in Keir Starmer’s hands” and she said that she hoped he would deal with that in “a dignified way”.
Taoiseach congratulates Burnham on victory
Taoiseach Micheál Martin congratulated Mr Burnham on his by-election win.
“I congratulate him on his success,” Mr Martin told reporters as he arrived for the second day of an EU summit in Brussels.
“I know Andy, I’ve met him on a number of occasions. He has taken a particular interest in Ireland, and he has come to see us on a number of occasions, particularly on the economy and in respect of his role as a mayor in Manchester. He was particularly focused on Irish economic policy and development.”
The Taoiseach said he had met Mr Burnham at an Anglo-Irish summit in Liverpool two years ago: “Andy was there with Keir Starmer. It was very positive.”
“It was a solid victory in the by-election, which shows what’s possible, despite all of the fragmentation and challenges of modern politics.
“He campaigned well and effectively and things can happen. So I wish him well in his parliamentary career. Beyond that, I’ve no further comment.”
Additional reporting Tony Connelly
