‘Astonishing’ win for Andy Burnham puts pressure on Starmer to step aside

Andy Burnham won the seat with a majority of 9,231 – nearly double that enjoyed by his predecessor. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham won the seat with a majority of 9,231 – nearly double that enjoyed by his predecessor. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA Analysis ‘Astonishing’ win for Andy Burnham puts pressure on Starmer to step aside Kiran Stacey Policy editor Size of Makerfield victory has many allies hoping outgoing Greater Manchester mayor will be installed in No 10 within days UK politics – live updates How quickly could Burnham become PM? Speaking hours before polls closed in Makerfield, a Downing Street source acknowledged a rare moment of doubt about the prime minister’s future. “Keir will fight on,” the source said, repeating the message to which Keir Starmer has stuck for several weeks. “Although, that might depend on the size of the majority.” In the end, Andy Burnham’s majority was so convincing that allies hope he can be installed in No 10 within days. Louise Haigh, the Labour MP who helped run Burnham’s campaign, said on Thursday night: “I hope that [Starmer] will consider an orderly and managed transition. “We have said that the party is in an existential crisis and things cannot continue. It was quite clear after the local elections, unfortunately, that he considered that business as usual would suffice. “Andy has potentially shown tonight what change the Labour party can bring.” Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said Burnham was the “only Labour politician in the country that could have pulled off that result”, adding: “That wasn’t just a win, that was an emphatic win … It was an astonishing share of the votes, and I think it shows that you can beat hate and division and anger and despair.” View image in fullscreen Lisa Nandy attends the vote counting for the Makerfield byelection. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters In fighting the byelection, the Greater Manchester mayor wanted not only to return to Westminster to challenge the prime minister, but also to show how Reform UK can be taken on and beaten, even in their most promising seats. He said after the result: “We must now take this up and put this country back on the right path and bring people back together and get things working properly.” Of the 90 seats where Reform finished second to Labour at the 2024 general election, Makerfield was the seventh closest result. At the local elections in this constituency, Reform won more than half the vote, with Labour way behind on 23%. Burnham, however, has won the seat with a majority of 9,231 – nearly double that enjoyed by his predecessor. With 54% of the vote, the mayor finished about 20 percentage points ahead of Reform, and, crucially, gained comfortably more votes than Reform and Restore Britain combined. Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, cannot argue that he would win this seat at a general election by uniting the hard right. Attention will now return to Westminster, and how quickly Burnham might