Starmer’s future hangs in balance after Burnham’s Makerfield election win
Ashton-in-Makerfield, a town few knew of until recently, has potentially chosen the UK’s next prime minister. Ashton-in-Makerfield, United Kingdom – Sue Hailwood has felt exhausted
Ashton-in-Makerfield, a town few knew of until recently, has potentially chosen the UK’s next prime minister. Ashton-in-Makerfield, United Kingdom – Sue Hailwood has felt exhausted since May, when the date of a critical by-election in her town was announced. For months, Ashton-in-Makerfield, the suburban northern ward whose by-election looks set to determine the UK’s next prime minister, has been visited by swarms of activists and journalists. Political party volunteers have been busy knocking on doors, while protesters have been arguing with one another. It’s been “absolutely horrendous”, said Hailwood, a charity shop worker. Vinyl record shop owner Peter Thompson said the attention on the area nestled between the post-industrial northern town of Wigan and the glass skyscrapers of nearby Manchester was “stupidly hectic”. “There have been Americans, a French magazine, a TV crew from Sweden and a TV crew from Denmark,” he said. “It’s the most important by-election in the history of this country.” The stakes were high, and in the end, Andy Burnham easily won Thursday’s vote, viewed as a prelude to a Labour leadership contest. Burnham, 56, has said he plans to challenge 62-year-old Prime Minister Keir Starmer. On Friday, the premier said he will stand in any race and will not “walk away”. How the next few days and weeks play out remains to be seen. Under the Labour Party’s rules, an MP who wants to challenge a leader must secure nominations from 20 percent of Labour MPs. In Burnham’s case, this means he would need 81 Labour legislators to nominate him. He would also require the backing of a few local party branches and organisations such as trade unions. If Starmer continues to dig his heels in or if others throw their hats into the ring, the process would be slower.
Burnham, until recently the Labour mayor of Manchester and nicknamed the “king of the north” by his supporters, tried unsuccessfully for the job of party leader in 2010 and 2015. In a speech early on Friday, he said “people here have voted for change. They have voted for more power for the north and everywhere forgotten by Westminster.” The Starmer problem Starmer won a wide but shallow victory in the 2024 general election, which saw Labour gain the most MPs, but each winning by narrow majorities. Since then, his shine has dimmed. He has been beleaguered by missteps and embarrassing U-turns and stalked by constant pressure from the right-wing Reform Party, led by former city trader Nigel Farage. According to most polls, Starmer is the most unpopular leader in the UK since surveys began. In the by-election, Burnham won 24,927 votes, beating his main competitor, Reform candidate Robert Kenyon, by more than 9,000 votes. For many Labour voters, the vote was about their party’s survival and choice of leader. Cameron Graham, a 31-year-old factory worker and dedicated trade union member, said his vote for Labour in 2024 was to back the party, not the leader. “I’d definitely prefer Burnham to Starmer,” he said. Howard Bond, a recently retired sales manager, told Al Jazeera that he and his family are lifelong Labour voters, but he has felt unsure of Starmer. “I think Burnham would do a better job,” he said outside a polling station during his third media interview of the day. “We got a leaflet through the door from Reform saying (Burnham) doesn’t live around here… That’s nonsense. His house is just over there. His kids went to school here.
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