Burnham’s Commons comeback plan under fire over £5m Greater Manchester by-election bill

18 May 2026 , 23:17

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Andy Burnham’s effort to return to Parliament has been criticized by opposition MPs over the potential cost of a by-election for his position as Greater Manchester mayor.

Mr. Burnham aims to stand as Labour’s candidate in Makerfield after former MP Josh Simons resigned last week. The outgoing MP stated his departure was to allow Andy Burnham a pathway back to Westminster, a move some consider the first step towards Number 10.

This comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces increasing pressure to resign after Labour’s defeat in the local elections on May 7.

However, Labour has been criticized over the possible cost of a by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty if Andy Burnham is elected to Parliament.

The cost of a mayoral by-election is reported to be around ’£5m’ to the public.

As Rob Ford, Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester noted last week, the scale of a Greater Manchester mayoral by-election would be vast, with nearly three million residents in the area.

"It would be, by a very large margin, the biggest by-election that Britain has ever had, there are EU member states that are smaller than the electorate in Greater Manchester," Professor Ford told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) stated it wouldn’t speculate on the possibility of a future mayoral by-election or the cost, but they did confirm that the last time Andy Burnham was re-elected in 2024, the bill amounted to £4,719,754.

Labour critics in Greater Manchester have attacked the party over the cost of any potential mayoral by-election.

Andy Burnham’s office and the Labour Party were approached for comment.

Cheadle MP Tom Morrison, a Lib Dem, said: "It is incredible that the Labour Government is potentially plunging us into a by-election in Greater Manchester that will cost the taxpayer £5m, all because there is no one suitable to be Prime Minister on their benches already."

Mr. Morrison highlighted that Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport has a repair backlog that could cost ’£134m’ to address.

The Cheadle MP added: "Last year the ceiling in the maternity ward fell on a mother giving birth, and every few months raw sewage floods the wards in the specialist liver unit."

"They [Labour] should get a grip, resolve their internal issues, and use the money spent on this by-election for better purposes like fixing our hospital."

Councillor John Leech, leader of the opposition Lib Dem group at Manchester council, said: "While Mancunians struggle with the cost of living crisis, spending £5M of taxpayer money for a parliamentary and mayoral by-election due to Labour incompetence is ridiculous."

"This is Labour’s own doing. They should cover the cost, not the taxpayer."

Andy Burnham proposed his candidacy for Makerfield MP at the Great North Investment Summit in Leeds today, stating that the UK has been on the ’wrong path for most of the last 40 years.’