Andy Burnham wins Makerfield by-election to set up challenge to Keir Starmer

David Hughes and Eleanor Barlow, Press Association

Andy Burnham said Labour had a “final chance to change” after his decisive win in the Makerfield by-election set up a showdown with Sir Keir Starmer.

Allies of Mr Burnham called on the Prime Minister to hand over power after he defied national trends to increase Labour’s share of the vote in a seat where Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made sweeping gains in last month’s local elections.

The Prime Minister, who has insisted he will not quit and will fight any leadership challenge, praised his rival’s victory, writing on social media: “Congratulations, @AndyBurnhamGM, Labour’s new MP for Makerfield. Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

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%.

In his victory speech he urged his party to act now, saying there would be no second chance.

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.”

In a direct message to Labour MPs he said: “I do say to my own party: this is a final chance to change.

“This is what people said directly to me on the hundreds of doorsteps that I stood on. We must hear it, we must act upon it and we must get it right. There will be no second chance.”

Mr Burnham gave up the Greater Manchester mayoralty by becoming Makerfield MP, winning the seat that was vacated by Josh Simons in order to allow him the chance of returning to Westminster and seek to become prime minister.

In an attempt at addressing the assertion that he was only seeking to become Makerfield’s MP to further his own ambitions, he 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.”

Cabinet minister Lisa Nandy said she wanted Mr Burnham “back at the top table”.

The Culture Secretary said: “What Andy’s shown here is that there is something that he brings, a willingness to go out and fight for the change that people need, to take on any system and any person who stands in the way and to be bold and to wear his heart on his sleeve, and people have responded.

“I think that with him back in the top team, at the top table, helping to drive that change, I think we’ll be in a really strong position.”

Mr Burnham has indicated he will not accept a job in Sir Keir’s Government.

He is not expected to launch a leadership challenge immediately, instead hoping Sir Keir will conclude that he has to give up the keys to No 10.

Mr Burnham’s supporters believe the scale of his victory will put increased pressure on Sir Keir to stand down.

Former cabinet minister Louise Haigh urged the Prime Minister to set out an “orderly and managed transition” of power.

She told the BBC she hoped Sir Keir will “do what’s best for both the country and the Labour Party”.

But the Prime Minister has repeatedly insisted he has no intention of walking away from No 10 and is understood to have amassed a war chest to fund his campaign to fight any leadership challenge, as first reported by The Times.

He has the backing of a group of private donors, with fundraising having ramped up in the last two days and total pledges running into six figures, sources said.

Mr Burnham has indicated he would join a leadership contest if one was triggered, something that would require 81 MPs to line up behind a candidate.

Former health secretary Wes Streeting has suggested he would be willing to fire the starting gun for a contest if Sir Keir does not stand down.

On Friday morning, he said Mr Burnham’s victory “gives us all hope that Labour can still win, but Andy’s campaign is proof that to do so we need to change”.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile said Labour should now be focused on winning the fight to succeed Mr Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester, rather than a leadership contest.

“We saw from the result in Makerfield this is going to be a straight Labour-Reform fight. We cannot risk the biggest regional politician in England going over to Reform because of all the division that they would want to sow across the north-west of England, all the damage that they will want to do,” he told Times Radio.

In the other Westminster by-election results the Tories secured victory in Aberdeen South, with Douglas Lumsden taking the seat vacated by the SNP’s former Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who won election to the Scottish Parliament in May.

In Arbroath and Broughty Ferry the SNP’s Lara Bird held the seat vacated when Stephen Gethins became an MSP.