Andy Burnham wins Makerfield by-election and sets up showdown with Starmer

Andy Burnham has won the crunch Makerfield by-election, setting him on course to challenge Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

The Greater Manchester Mayor beat Reform‘s Rob Kenyon after a bruising campaign that became a proxy battle for the future of Labour – and Britain.

Mr Burnham secured 24,927 votes and won by a majority of 9,231 – which will return him to Westminster for the first time in nine years.

Second place was Reform’s Mr Kenyon who received 15,696 votes and third place was Restore who achieved 3,111 – even with their votes combined, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat Burnham.

Mr Burnham’s victory propels him to the centre of the race to succeed Sir Keir, with talks between the two men expected within days.

Britain is likely set for a summer of Labour civil war as the rival camps fight it out for the leadership of the party and the nation.

Mr Burnham’s win sets up a potential contest unless the Prime Minister agrees to step down.

During his victory speech, Mr Burnham said Labour had a “final chance to change” and “we must act upon it”.

He added: “People here have voted for change, they have voted for more power for the North and everywhere forgotten by Westminster.

Taking a shot at Reform, he said: “There will be no second chance, but it is a chance now from this result tonight to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States.”

The turnout for the ballot was 58.75 per cent with the result coming just after 3am.

It was a hard- fought race with local boozers eventually banning political conversations because arguments between customers had become too heated over the past few weeks.

Thousands of activists descended on Makerfield in the lead- up to last night’s race leaving locals at the centre of a political storm.

Sir Keir has insisted he will fight any attempt to challenge him and has been building up a war chest for the leadership campaign.

But Mr Burnham’s supporters want the Prime Minister to set out an “orderly and managed transition” of power.

Former cabinet minister Louise Haigh said she hoped Sir Keir will “do what’s best for both the country and the Labour Party“.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who is a close ally to Mr Burnham, said “there will be a conversation” with the Prime Minister over the course of the weekend but added: “That’s not for tonight.”

Asked if she will resign to heap pressure on the PM to quit, Ms Nandy said: “I’m not going to resign, of course not.

“I’d never walk away from the promise that we made to the people of this country until we’ve delivered it.”

And Luke Charters, Labour MP for York, today told LBC that the Prime Minister needs to “read the room” in the wake of the by-election victory.

He added: “I think it’d be good this weekend for the PM to take heed of what was an absolutely seismic and colossal message here … I think the prime minister should look at that

“The PM’s got to really quickly reflect on and read the room here on what’s happening here in Makerfield.”

Meanwhile, Labour MP Mike Tapp said that it would become hard “not to call a general election” with Labour’s agenda moving too far away from its manifesto and Burnham returning to the Commons.

And Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting took to social media to congratulate Burnham on his “astonishing” victory.

He added: “It gives us all hope that Labour can still win, but Andy’s campaign is proof that to do so we need to change. Enormous thanks to everyone involved.”

Jon Trickett, Labour MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, told Times Radio Sir Keir Starmer needs to “stand down in a dignified and graceful way.”

He added that it would be “humiliating for a sitting prime minister to lose the vote of his own party.”

He continued: I think the Labour Party really is in the last chance saloon but this is a big opportunity now.

“The people of Makerfield have indicated that they don’t want Farage and his party. They’re prepared to give Labour a chance.

“But look Andy’s got to really really deliver and it’s a big majority of 9,000 in a by-election. that is a sizable almost seismic result in a by-election.”

Weighing in today, Nigel Farage said voters had cast their ballot to “get Starmer out” as he warned Restore voters to “think again” after they split the right’s vote.

And Richard Tice, Reform UK deputy leader, said: “In a sense, they were always expected to win. We were always the underdogs.

“But what we discovered, and this was fascinating, people who voted Reform at the locals deliberately said to us, ‘Even though I’m a Reform voter, I’m going to vote Burnham to guarantee to get Starmer out’.

“Our slogan at the locals was ‘Vote Reform, get Starmer out’. That’s what voters did.

“And then with the specific chance in Makerfield, voters voted tactically and that’s why the margin of victory was so significant in order to send that very clear message to the Labour Party, get this most unpopular, dreadful prime minister out of our lives.”

In response to the win this morning, which could spell disaster for Sir Keir, the PM congratulated Mr Burnham, saying: “Congratulations, Andy Burnham, Labour’s new MP for Makerfield.

“Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”