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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.

“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.

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.

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.

Starmer has rebuffed calls to resign, pledging to fight any challenge to his leadership and insisting that such a contest would be a “bad thing for the country”.

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.

Published on 27/05/2026 – 12:10 GMT+2•Updated
12:17

One week after EU diplomats and lawmakers agreed to eliminate EU duties on most US industrial goods under the EU-US trade agreement, EU ambassadors on Wednesday greenlit a deal with the European Parliament, paving the way for the full agreement’s formal adoption by the EU Council.

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The procedural step comes as the US pressures Europeans to implement the EU-US deal clinched last summer by US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after weeks of renewed trade tensions.

Trump has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on EU cars if the deal is not enforced by the EU by 4 July.

On their side, MEPs still have to formally endorse the agreement reached on the EU side, with a tentative vote scheduled during the plenary session between 15 and 18 June.

“The agreement we reached with the European Parliament marks an important step in delivering on the EU’s commitments,” said a spokesperson for the Cypriot Presidency, which negotiated with MEPs on behalf of EU member states.

The spokesperson added that “robust safeguards” had been included in the agreement “to protect the interests of European businesses and economic operators”.

The deal, considered lopsided by many MEPs, states that the EU would face 15 percent US tariffs while eliminating its own duties on US goods.

However, after Trump repeatedly threatened to impose new tariffs in breach of the deal, EU lawmakers pushed member states to include conditions such as a “sunset” clause that would terminate the agreement on 31 December 2029 unless renewed.

Under the agreement reached last week, the Commission would also be able to suspend the trade deal at the request of either Parliament or a member state if the US fails to lift tariffs on European steel and aluminium products by the end of 2026.