Andy Burnham campaign to challenge Keir Starmer gathers momentum
May 15 (UPI) -- Momentum was gathering Friday behind a bid by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to oust Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer after a route back into Parliament opened and his main rival endorsed him.
Posting on X hours after Burnham announced his intention to run for a member of Parliament in northwestern England -- being vacated specifically to give him a shot at the top job -- former Health Secretary Wes Streeting threw his backing behind Burnham.
Streeting urged the rival wings of the ruling Labour Party put their differences aside and unite behind the veteran party figure.
"We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them. The Makerfield by-election will be tough," wrote Streeting, who quit the Cabinet on Thursday and said he had lost confidence in Starmer.
"Votes will need to be earned. Andy is the best chance of winning and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person."
Streeting had been expected to launch his own leadership challenge after his resignation and in anticipation of a full-blown contest for the leadership Makerfield MP Josh Simons resigned, triggering a by-election.
In a letter to his constituents, Simons, who was elected in the 2024 general election, said he was stepping aside for Burnham because he believed he could provide the "urgent, radical, brave reform" the country needed but that the current administration was failing to deliver.
He described him as "a leader who is authentic, honest and trusted, who says what he believes and does what he says," adding that Burnham had a track-record of delivering for working people, building alliances and utilizing the skills of colleagues across the Labour Party.
In a post confirming his intention to stand in the by-election, the former chief secretary to the treasury and health secretary in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said he was seeking "people's support to return to Parliament to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the U.K. and make politics work properly for people."
However, Burnham has a series of hurdles to overcome, beginning with gaining clearance to quit as mayor of the country's second largest city and run to become an MP from the party's National Executive Committee, which in February blocked him from doing just that to fight a different by-election.
If successful, he must then come out on top of the selection process to nominate the party's candidate and then fight and win the by-election, which is no by means guaranteed in a voting district where Reform UK are gaining popularity and performed very strongly in the May 7 local elections.
Only then can he challenge Starmer for the leadership which will require him to gain the backing of a minimum of 20% of the party's 405 MPs.
Other challengers who may emerge will need to do the same, but Starmer, who has steadfastly refused to resign or set a time-table for his departure, is automatically entered into any leadership ballot.
Burnham unsuccessfully fought two contests for the Labour leadership when the party was in opposition, losing to Ed Miliband in 2010 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015, before quitting the House of Commons in 2017.
He is currently halfway through his third, four-year term as mayor of Greater Manchester.
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 6:39 AM.