Andy Burnham Seeks Makerfield Return After Wes Streeting Resigns, Josh Simons Steps Aside

Pressure inside Britain’s ruling Labour Party intensified after Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned, and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham moved to return to Parliament by seeking to stand in Makerfield after Labour MP Josh Simons said he would step down.

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The BBC said Burnham would ask to run for Labour in Makerfield, noting that “Any candidate in a Labour leadership contest to replace Sir Keir must be an MP,” while the Stirling News reported that Sir Keir Starmer would not seek to block Burnham from becoming Labour’s candidate in the forthcoming by-election.

BBC

Burnham framed his bid as a way to “bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people,” and the BBC reported that he would “not take a single vote for granted” in the north-west constituency where Labour held 2024 with a majority of 5,399 over Reform UK.

The BBC also said the by-election date was yet to be announced and depended on when the government triggers the formal process, as it reported that no leadership challenge had been triggered despite speculation over Starmer’s future.

In the same day’s reshuffle, Downing Street announced James Murray would be Streeting’s successor as health secretary, moving from his role as chief secretary to the Treasury, while the BBC reported that Rayner said she had resolved her tax affairs with HMRC following an investigation.

Streeting’s resignation letter and remarks set the tone for a leadership fight, with the BBC reporting that he blamed “Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords.”

The BBC also quoted Labour MP Alan Gemmell saying Streeting had “taken a principled decision today not to trigger a contest,” while the Stirling News described how Sir Keir faced mounting calls to quit after Labour’s disastrous local election results last week.

Daily Record

Burnham’s camp and Starmer’s allies both tried to shape the process, with the BBC saying an ally of Sir Keir was “focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families,” and the Stirling News reporting that Downing Street continued to insist Starmer would fight any effort to oust him.

The BBC reported that a leadership election would require 20% of Labour MPs to back a replacement candidate, and it calculated that with 403 Labour MPs the support of 81 would be needed, while the Stirling News said it was still unclear whether Streeting had the support of 81 Labour MPs as needed to launch a formal challenge.

As the party weighed next steps, the BBC reported that Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell was expected to say Burnham, Streeting and Rayner should all be “key players” in Labour’s team when she speaks at the Fire Brigades’ Union conference.

The leadership contest mechanics and the party’s internal pressure campaign were closely tied to who could realistically enter a race, with the BBC explaining that Sir Keir would be automatically on the ballot paper if he chose to contest and that a challenger would need 81 MPs.

“Labour MP to stand aside to allow Andy Burnham to fight for Parliament return Former Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons said the Greater Manchester Mayor is the right man to "drive the change our country is crying out for"”

Daily Record

POLITICO described how Burnham’s allies were scrambling to get him into the Commons, saying two supporters told the outlet there was a plan to force a by-election in early June so Burnham could return in time to enter a leadership race, and it quoted a senior Burnham-backing MP saying “A timetable can be accommodated that would allow a by-election to take place by early June.”

The BBC reported that Sir Keir would not seek to block Burnham from becoming the Labour candidate in Makerfield, while POLITICO said the National Executive Committee had signaled it would be less likely to block a Burnham candidacy again as they did in January.

Beyond party rules, the Stirling News and the Daily Record framed the political stakes through the by-election and leadership pressure, with the Stirling News noting that only Streeting had quit the Government by lunchtime on Thursday and that Jess Phillips, Zubir Ahmed, Alex Davies-Jones and Miatta Fahnbulleh had resigned as junior ministers on Tuesday.

In parallel, the HuffPost UK account tied the immediate next step to the Commons route, reporting that Simons won Makerfield with a majority of 5,399 over Reform at the general election and quoting Simons as saying he was “standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter parliament”.