Andy Burnham has won the UK’s most important election, beating Keir Starmer | Political Affairs

AVOIDINGPOSSIBILITY,

The Greater Manchester mayor’s victory in Makerfield points the way to ousting Starmer as Prime Minister.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has cruised to victory in a by-election in the north of England, paving the way for him to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labor Party and the United Kingdom.

Burnham beat close rival Robert Kenyon, an anti-immigration Reform UK advocate, in the seat of Makerfield, poll results showed on Friday, to secure the House of Commons seat he is expected to call for the prime minister.

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“Everybody knows that politics doesn’t work,” Burnham said in his victory speech.

“Anyone can think that the world is not meant to be. Tonight could be the time to change things. From now on, I will give everything I have to make it happen.”

Burnham’s victory is likely to lead to Starmer’s resignation or trigger a contest between the Prime Minister and the outgoing mayor and Wes Streeting, the former health secretary.

Burnham is known to be a strong favorite to become prime minister if he can challenge Starmer.

In an Ipsos poll published earlier this week, Burnham was chosen by 25 percent of British adults as prime minister, compared to 12 percent for Starmer.

If Starmer wins, Burnham, who was a favorite in the 2015 Labor leadership race before becoming Jeremy Corbyn’s deputy, would become the UK’s seventh prime minister since the country voted for Brexit in 2016.

After leading Labor to a landslide victory in 2024, Starmer has been under pressure to resign due to dissatisfaction with his leadership.

Calls for him to step down from Labor have grown since the party’s heavy losses at the state and local elections in May.

Twenty ministers have left Starmer’s government in less than two years, almost half of whom expressed a lack of confidence in his leadership or disagreed with him on policy, including Streeting.

Starmer has rejected calls for him to step down, pledging to tackle any challenge to his leadership and insisting such a run would be “a bad thing for the country”.

Burnham – dubbed the “king of the north” because of his appeal to the north of England and his willingness to challenge Westminster – ran on a promise to “change Labour” to “change politics and change the world”.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham built a large following in the less developed northern parts of the UK by drawing on popular themes of apathy and industrial decline.

The mayor, first elected in 2017, and re-elected in 2021 and 2024, criticized UK politics as being “too London-centric” and pursued neoliberal and economic policies that were not “deeply regressive”.

Burnham, who served in a number of roles under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is the favorite in the race, leading Kenyon by five points in a poll released on Saturday by pollster Opinium.

Labour’s Josh Simons, who previously held the seat of Makerfield, triggered the election last month by giving up his seat to allow Burnham to challenge Starmer.

About 75,000 people were eligible to vote in the constituency, which is 320 kilometers north-west of London.

The turnout was 58.75 percent, up from 52.4 percent in the 2024 general election.