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The so-called King of the North won more votes than all the other candidates combined to confirm his return to Westminster, as ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston reports<\/p>\n
Team Burnham has urged the prime minister to allow an \u201corderly transition\u201d and avoid a \u201cmessy\u201d and \u201cbloody\u201d leadership contest after its victory in the Makerfield by-election. <\/p>\n
Louise Haigh, who served as Starmer’s first transport secretary and has been running Andy Burnham’s campaign, urged the PM to stand aside.<\/p>\n
Haigh said: “A contest is not in the best interest of the government and therefore the country.”<\/p>\n
Speaking to ITV News, she hoped that the PM would reflect “deeply over the coming days about the results” and think about “the best interests of the country”.<\/p>\n
Haigh also told journalists that if the PM does not step aside, the Burnham campaign is ready.<\/p>\n
Watch Burnham’s campaign manager, Louise Haigh, speak to ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen <\/p>\n
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will run against Andy Burnham if he triggers a Labour leadership contest.<\/p>\n
The prime minister congratulated Burnham earlier on Friday for his victory in the Makerfield by-election, but said: “If there is a contest, just to be clear with you, then yes, I will run, I will stand and I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”<\/p>\n
The now-former Greater Manchester mayor won more than half of all votes cast in the Makerfield by-election, comfortably beating the combined total for second and third place parties Reform UK and Restore Britain.<\/p>\n
His victory marks his return to Westminster and paves the way for a potential showdown with Starmer.<\/p>\n
ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston understands that neither Andy Burnham nor Wes Streeting plans to make any public move until Monday, allowing the Prime Minister time to take stock of his support. <\/p>\n
He also suggests there is scope for Streeting to strike a deal with Burnham, with the former health secretary potentially returning to a cabinet role in exchange for his backing.<\/p>\n
Former minister Jess Phillips called for “an orderly transition” and said that the responsibility of what happens next “sits squarely on the prime minister’s shoulders”.<\/p>\n
Speaking to ITV News, Phillips said that Starmer’s position is untenable but warned that “nobody wants a massive bun fights when you’re meant to be running the country”.<\/p>\n
Former minister Zubir Ahmed told ITV News he has called on cabinet ministers to privately and, if need be, publicly call on Starmer to outline a timetable to leave.<\/p>\n
Starmer insists he was elected to serve his country and that a leadership battle would “plunge the country into chaos”.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from No 10 doubled down, saying there is no vacancy for prime minister and that Starmer is focused on getting on with the job.<\/p>\n
Starmer insists he’ll fight in a leadership campaign despite calls for an orderly transition. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
At a rally on Friday morning<\/a>, Burnham said this was “an opportunity to turn the tide” and a chance “to make people see that politics can make a positive difference”.<\/p>\n He pledged to deliver the change promised in his campaign, adding that the last 40 years “simply haven’t worked for people”.<\/p>\n He added that areas like Makerfield “have often been an afterthought,” saying politicians “don’t work for people here” and that he would make the change to “move forward together towards the future”.<\/p>\n Burnham also credited his campaign team for his success, referring to them as “a band of strong Northern power women” and saying, “I wouldn’t mess with them”.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham set out his pitch for change at a rally on Friday morning in Makerfield Credit: PA<\/p>\n Earlier on Friday, Starmer praised the campaign as “a very good victory”, adding that it was evidence “that the tide is turning on Reform”.<\/p>\n Reform UK did not manage to take this seat, despite wiping Labour out of the area in the May local elections.<\/p>\n In a speech at the count, Burnham said Labour had a \u201cfinal chance to change\u201d after winning the by-election<\/a> by 9,231 votes.<\/p>\n Reform candidate Rob Kenyon won 34.5% of the vote, while Restore Britain\u2019s Rebecca Shepherd won 6.8%, which together come to 41.3%.<\/p>\n Conservative candidate Michael Winstanley won 2.2% of the vote in Makerfield \u2013 the Tories\u2019 second lowest share of the vote at a Westminster by-election since the Second World War. <\/p>\n The turnout in Makerfield was 58.7%, the highest for a parliamentary by-election in nearly seven years.<\/p>\n Labour party MP Andy Burnham leaves The Edge in Wigan with his wife Marie-France Van Heel (right) and their daughter Rosie. Credit: PA<\/p>\n The Labour Party has retained the seat after former MP Josh Simons stepped down in May to make way for Burnham’s return to Westminster.<\/p>\n Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d with the party\u2019s vote share and urged people who voted for Restore Britain to \u201cthink again\u201d.<\/p>\n In a video posted on X, he said: \u201cWhat really happened here was, it was vote Burnham, get Starmer out, which, of course, was our campaign message leading up to the locals (elections) on May 7, so we were slightly hoisted with our own petard.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the Reform vote share, well I thought we would get 18,000 votes\u2026 we got just shy of 16 (thousand), so I\u2019m disappointed, no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n