IS STARMER UNDER THREAT? BURNHAM WINS KEY BY-ELECTION, EYES LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

Fri 19 June 2026:

Greater Manchester mayor’s victory in Makerfield clears path for bid to unseat Starmer as prime minister.

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

Burnham handily defeated his closest challenger, Robert Kenyon, the candidate for the anti-immigration Reform UK, in the seat of Makerfield, vote results showed early on Friday, securing the House of Commons seat he needs to mount a bid for the prime ministership.

Burnham won 24,927 votes, beating Kenyon by more than 9,000 votes.

Rebecca Shepherd of Restore Britain was a distant third, trailed by Michael Winstanley of the Conservative Party, Sarah Wakefield of the Green Party, and the Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin.

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“Everyone knows that politics is not working,” Burnham said in his victory speech.

“Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could – just could – be the turning point. From here on, I will give everything that I have got to make it so, to ensure the name Makerfield is forever synonymous with bringing about the change this country needs.”

Burnham’s victory is likely to either precipitate Starmer’s resignation or set off a leadership contest pitting the prime minister against the outgoing mayor and Wes Streeting, the former health secretary.

Under the UK’s political system, MPs can choose a new prime minister without holding a general election.

Burnham is widely considered a strong favourite to become the next prime minister if he challenges Starmer.

Can the real Andy Burnham please stand up?

After winning the Makerfield byelection, the race is on to take down Keir Starmer as prime minister. But what does the Labour party’s most popular politician actually believe? @harriepw explains. pic.twitter.com/iSJjjmepbN

— Novara Media (@novaramedia) June 19, 2026

“I’ve lost belief in Kier Starmer. I just think he’s lost his way,” Keith Davis, who described himself as a “big union man,” told Al Jazeera.

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

Starmer congratulated Burnham, writing on social media that voters “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

But he reiterated that he has no intention of stepping down and will fight to remain leader of the party and country, although he has previously said a leadership contest would be a “bad thing for the country”.

“Yes, I will run, I will stand,” if there is a Labour leadership contest, Starmer said. “I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”

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Mounting pressure

In a speech at a victory rally later on Friday, Burnham appeared to lay out his key campaign points, although he did not announce any formal challenge to Starmer.

He said that Britain needed fundamental change, from its economy to its immigration system, to education and ⁠industry.

“It is our last chance to change, but we’re going to take it… We are going to take that opportunity, and we are going to lay out a new path for Britain,” Burnham ⁠told supporters.

Calling for an end to “trickle-down” economics, he called for the re-industrialisation ⁠of the north of England.

If he does succeed Starmer, Burnham, who was the early favourite in the 2015 Labour leadership race before coming second to Jeremy Corbyn, would be the UK’s seventh prime minister since the country voted for Brexit in 2016.

After leading Labour to a thumping election victory in 2024, Starmer has been under mounting pressure to step down amid widespread public dissatisfaction with his leadership.

Calls for his resignation within Labour have mounted since the party suffered crushing losses in local and regional elections in May.

Twenty ministers have resigned from Starmer’s government in less than two years, nearly half of whom expressed a loss of confidence in his leadership or clashed with him on policy, including Streeting.

Burnham – dubbed the “king of the north” for his grassroots appeal across northern England and his willingness to challenge Westminster – ran on the promise to “change Labour” to “change politics and change the country”.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham built an avid following across the UK’s less developed northern regions by channelling populist themes about elite apathy and industrial decline.

First elected mayor in 2017, and re-elected in 2021 and 2024, he has criticised the UK’s political system as “too London-centric” and taken aim at neoliberal economic policies and trickle-down economics that did not “trickle down very much at all”.

In his victory speech, Burnham said that Makerfield would be the “touchstone” for his politics.

“A Makerfield test at the heart of British politics will ensure that the places Westminster has neglected will now get fairness,” he said.

Burnham, who served in several ministerial portfolios under former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, had been the narrow favourite in the race, holding a five-point lead over Kenyon in an opinion poll released on Saturday by pollster Opinium.

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

About 75,000 people were entitled to vote in the constituency, which is located about 320km (200 miles) northwest of London.

Turnout was 58.75 percent, up from 52.4 percent at the 2024 general election.

By Al Jazeera Staff

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