Sir Keir Starmer is “weighing up future” as Prime Minister after Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election today.
Amid mounting pressure on him to quit, the Labour leader is said to be spending the weekend with his family to consider his position at No10.
Sir Keir has insisted publicly he will not “walk away” from the position and said he is “ready to fight” in a leadership challenge against Mr Burnham.
A senior No10 source told GB News the Prime Minister remains undeterred despite Mr Burnham’s strong win.
They said: “His message is clear… a leadership contest would be damaging for party and country… But if there is one, he’s ready to fight it.”
The former Greater Manchester Mayor won the Makerfield by-election after taking a total of 24,927 votes – 54.8 per cent of constituents who turned up to polling stations.
In his victory speech this morning, the new Makerfield MP said it was the “last chance to change”.
He said on his win: “It does now open up the space for the real change that the people of this constituency deserve.
“We’ve got to now take this moment to answer the challenges that have been laid down, and I did describe it last night as a last chance to change.”
Coming in second was Reform UK’s plumber-turned-politician Robert Kenyon, who took 34.5 per cent, equating to 15,696 votes.
It is said Andy Burnham has the 81 names of Labour MPs to launch a leadership contest
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The party’s leader Nigel Farage called the vote “disappointing”, taking the opportunity to send a direct message to Restore Britain voters.
He said: “The Makerfield by-election was a dramatic, emphatic win for Andy Burnham with a vote share that nobody could quite see coming.”
The MP for Clacton continued: “As for the Reform vote share, I thought we’d get 18,000 votes. We got just shy of 16,000, so I’m disappointed by that, no question about it.
“But I would say this – there are a couple of thousand voters there who would normally have gone out and voted Reform that voted Restore and I would say directly to them, ‘What do you want?’ We are the challenger party to the Left in this country, and I would urge you to think again; I really, really would.”
Rupert Lowe’s party came third in the vote, with their candidate Rebecca Lee Shepherd taking 3,111 votes, equating to 6.8 per cent.
Even if Restore voters tactically opted for Reform, the turquoise party would have received 41.3 per cent of the vote – still more than 10 percentage points under Labour.
In a video posted on X, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage appealed to Restore voters to reconsider their votes in the future
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Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, said the by-election was a tactical move by the electorate to get rid of Sir Keir.
He said: “We would have loved to have won it, but we were always the underdogs. Mr Burnham is a well-known figure in the north west and let’s just remember, the slogan was ‘vote Reform to get Starmer out’, and here the slogan was ‘vote Burnham to guarantee to get Starmer out’.”
The full results from the Makerfield by-election:
- Andy Burnham (Labour) — 24,937 votes — 54.8% (+9.6%)
- Robert Kenyon (Reform UK) — 15,696 votes — 34.5% (+2.7%)
- Rebecca Shepherd (Restore Britain) — 3,111 votes — 6.8% (new)
- Michael Winstanley (Conservative) — 997 votes — 2.2% (-8.7%)
- Sarah Wakefield (Green) — 308 votes — 0.7%
- Jake Austin (Liberal Democrats) — 163 votes — 0.4%
The turnout was 58.7 per cent of a 77,462-strong electorate.
Throughout the by-election campaign, Mr Burnham made it clear his ambition was to re-enter central Government to challenge Sir Keir for the top job.
He has the 81 names to officially trigger a leadership challenge in the Labour Party, reports LabourList.
Sir Keir Starmer is going to spend the weekend with his family, it is understood, to contemplate his future at No10
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It is not clear who those names are, but severalLabour MPs have publicly signalled to the Prime Minister his time is up.
In talks with the cabinet held today, it has been said multiple cabinet ministers told Sir Keir to go, including the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, The Times reports.
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, have already done so.
However, Sir Keir’s allies have stood behind him, such as Housing Secretary Steve Reed, who told GB News Mr Burnham has “a very, very big role to play” in the party.
He said: “The best thing we can do is bring all the talent we can together. We have a Government that is made up of a whole load of MPs.
“We need to bring the best talent we possibly can together, and now we’ve got Andy Burnham with us once again, and he’s got a very, very big role to play.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch regarded the Makerfield by-election about ‘one man’s job’
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Further north in Scotland, two other by-elections took place but were undoubtedly dwarfed by the behemoth Makerfield vote.
Despite their lack of media coverage, the Conservatives appeared to make a revival in Aberdeen South, winning their first Westminster by-election in more than 50 years.
Kemi Badenoch’s party took a comfortable victory, with their candidate Douglas Lumsden gaining 49.5 per cent of the vote.
She said in response to the win: “Makerfield was about one man’s job. Aberdeen South was about thousands of jobs in oil and gas across our country and the future of an entire city.”
The full results from the Abderdeen South by-election:
- Douglas Lumsden (Conservative) — 14,308 votes — 49.5% (+25.1%)
- Richard Gordon Thomson (SNP) — 8,258 votes — 28.6% (-4.2%)
- Jo Hart (Reform UK) — 2,478 votes — 8.6% (+1.7%)
- Nurul Hoque Ali (Labour) — 1,550 votes — 5.4% (-19.2%)
- Mel Sullivan (Liberal Democrat) — 1,270 votes — 4.4% (-1.9%)
- Jorg Shelton-Eckstein (Scottish Greens) — 974 votes — 3.4% (-0.1%)
- David Ballantine (Alliance for Democracy and Freedom) — 59 votes — 0.2% (+0.2%)
The turnout was 38 per cent of a 76,033-strong electorate.
Aberdeen has been at the heart of the UK’s energy security debate, as it is the nation’s oil and gas hub.
Shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie told the People’s Channel: “In constituencies across the length and breadth of this country, we are demonstrating that only we can take on and beat the SNP in Scotland and the Labour Party across the United Kingdom.”
Also in Scotland, voters in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry took to the polls on Thursday.
The SNP’s Lara Bird was able to hold on to the party’s seats, securing 9,802 votes, taking 41.2 per cent of the vote share.
The full results from the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election:
- Lara Bird (SNP) — 9,802 votes — 41.2% (+6.0%)
- Jack Cruickshanks (Conservative) — 4,524 votes — 19.0% (+3.5%)
- Bill Reid (Reform UK) — 4,341 votes — 18.3% (+9.7%)
- Heather Doran (Labour) — 3,651 votes — 15.4% (-18.0%)
- Tanvir Ahmad (Liberal Democrat) — 1,452 votes — 6.1% (+1.0%
The turnout was 31.3 per cent of a 75,985-strong electorate.
In her winning speech Ms Bird said: “The people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry have rejected the politics of division and hate.
“We have demonstrated that our community is inclusive, hopeful, and proud and that while there are challenges that we must face, we will face them together and not allow others to turn us against each other.”