Andy Burnham wins key U.K. poll, paving way for bid to challenge PM Keir Starmer

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - June 19, 2026 12:02 pm IST - Wigan Newly elected Makerfield MP Andy Burnham of Britain's Labour Party speaks following his victory in the Makerfield by-election, triggered by the resignation of Labour MP John Simons, at the The Edge Wigan in Wigan, on June 19, 2026 | Photo Credit: Reuters Veteran U.K. Labour politician Andy Burnham emphatically won a crunch by-election on Friday (June 19, 2026), securing a parliamentary seat and clearing the way for a widely expected leadership challenge against beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Mr. Burnham, a former Minister who has been Greater Manchester Mayor since 2017, ensured his return to parliament by easily beating the hard-right Reform U.K. party’s candidate in the Makerfield constituency in northwest England. The 56-year-old longtime figure in centre-left Labour wants to replace Mr. Starmer as party leader and Prime Minister, and needed to win the high-stakes vote to be in a position to trigger such a contest. If Mr. Starmer does leave office this year, then Britain will get its seventh Prime Minister in 10 years. “I do say to my own party, this is a final chance to change,” Mr. Burnham said in his acceptance speech after securing nearly 55 percent of the vote, beating Reform’s Robert Kenyon by more than 9,000 ballots. Turnout was a historically high 59%. “We must get it right,” he added, saying his victory could be a “turning point” for the country. Mr. Starmer, in office since July 2024, has been clinging to power since Labour suffered a drubbing in polls in England, Scotland and Wales last month. Mr. Starmer congratulated Mr. Burnham for winning a key by-election, which paves the way for a widely expected leadership challenge against the beleaguered leader. “Congratulations, @AndyBurnhamGM, Labour’s new MP for Makerfield,” Mr. Starmer wrote on X. “Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.” Mr. Starmer has been rocked by several policy U-turns and a scandal over his appointment of ex-Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as the U.K.’s Ambassador to Washington. Dozens of Labour MPs have called on Mr. Starmer to quit, and several Ministers have resigned, as national surveys suggest Reform is set to win the next general election, expected in 2029. But the 63-year-old ex-lawyer has refused to quit, insisting his landslide election victory over the Conservatives 23 months ago gave him a five-year mandate to govern. Amid growing impatience within the ruling party, now-former Labour MP Josh Simons stood down in Makerfield so that Burnham could try to return to parliament and run for leader. The unprecedented move thrust the little-known political district into the spotlight, handing its electorate of roughly 77,000 people an outsized say in influencing Starmer’s fate. Surveys show that Mr. Burnham — nicknamed the “King of the North” for winning three consecutive mayoral terms — is Labour’s most popular politician and would likely win a direct vote against Mr. Starmer amongst the party membership. Thursday’s (June 18, 2026) vote for the Makerfield seat, where Labour had held a majority of just 5,300 votes, was seen as a test of whether Burnham can defeat Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage. The area is predominantly white and working-class — fertile territory for the hard-right group which has topped national surveys for over a year. But local plumber Kenyon’s campaign was dogged by past offensive remarks about women, while the fringe hard-right Restore Britain party dented Reform’s vote by snagging nearly 7 percent of returns. Mr. Starmer has vowed to fight any leadership challenge, but the resounding nature of Burnham’s win is likely to heighten pressure from Labour MPs to step down instead. A cascade of resignations from Mr. Starmer’s top team would make his position untenable. Before the Makerfield result was declared, ex-minister Louise Haigh told the BBC Starmer should consider “an orderly and managed transition” of power. Burnham, an MP from 2001 to 2017, hails from Labour’s so-called soft-left wing and has been an outs

Andy Burnham wins key U.K. poll, paving way for bid to challenge PM Keir Starmer

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Andy Burnham wins key U.K. poll, paving way for bid to challenge PM Keir Starmer

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