Government crisis in London
Prime Minister Starmer in distress – rival wins by-election
Updated June 19, 2026 – 4:59 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield by-election. With his entry into the British Parliament, things are likely to be tight for Prime Minister Starmer.
Labor candidate Andy Burnham has won a by-election in Makerfield, a town between Liverpool and Manchester, with a clear majority. The mayor of Manchester is seen as the Prime Minister’s internal party rival Keir Starmer and could overthrow him. Burnham received 24,927 votes, with Robert Kenyon of the Reform Party coming in second with 15,696 votes.
In order to challenge Starmer for the Labor leadership, a candidate needs to be in Great Britain a seat in the House of Commons. Burnham held the position between 2001 and 2017 before he was elected mayor of Greater Manchester for the first time in May 2017. With his election, he can now force a leadership election.
According to observers, he could easily get the support of 81 Labor MPs that would be needed for a duel with Starmer. In Britain, the leader of the majority party automatically becomes Prime Minister.
The Makerfield constituency, with its 76,000 eligible voters, has long been considered a Labor stronghold. In the last lower house election in 2024, however, the social democratic candidate only narrowly finished ahead of the right-wing populist candidate.
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Starmer, who was elected to office in July 2024, last had with several affairs and a stinging defeat for his Labor Party in local and regional elections in May. While his poll numbers have recently plummeted, Burnham is considered one of the most popular politicians in Great Britain.
The Prime Minister will be behind at the latest several resignations from his government massively under pressure. Nervousness is growing in the Labor group as to whether Starmer can still lead the party into the next election. Burnham is seen by many as a possible alternative: close to the people, experienced in government and strongly anchored in the north of England.
The situation had become particularly acute due to the bitter losses for Labor in the local and regional elections in England, Scotland and Wales in early May in favor of Reform. However, Starmer has so far ruled out resigning or at least working out a timetable for an orderly withdrawal. The Prime Minister repeatedly referred to his big election victory in the summer of 2024 and the task of leading the country out of the crisis
