Andy Burnham Seeks Labour Nomination in Makerfield After Streeting Resigns Over Starmer Leadership

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham plans to seek the Labour nomination in Makerfield after Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary, saying he had lost confidence in Sir Keir Starmer's leadership.

Burnham said he would ask for permission to run for Labour in the constituency after incumbent MP Josh Simons announced he would resign to make way for him. Simons believes Burnham can "drive the change our country is crying out for."

Streeting quit Thursday, calling for a broad debate in the party about what comes next. He did not say he would run for Labour leadership.

The developments followed days of speculation about Starmer's future as leader after poor election results for Labour. No leadership challenge has been triggered.

Earlier Thursday, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said she had resolved her tax affairs with HMRC. Any candidate in a Labour leadership contest to replace Starmer must be an MP.

Burnham said he would seek voters' support to return to Parliament in order to "bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people."

He added he would "not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people" in the north-west constituency. Labour held Makerfield in 2024 with a majority of 5,399 votes over Reform UK.

Reform leader Nigel Farage said his party looked forward to the contest and would "throw absolutely everything at it." Reform performed strongly against Labour in recent council elections in the area.

Burnham was previously blocked by Labour's National Executive Committee from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, which Labour lost to the Green Party. The BBC understands Starmer will not seek to block Burnham from becoming the Labour candidate in Makerfield.

An ally of Starmer said: "Keir is focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families."

The by-election date is yet to be announced and depends on when the government triggers the formal process.

Streeting became the first cabinet minister to resign Thursday, blaming the "unpopularity of this government" for Labour's poor results in last week's elections. He said: "Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords."

Streeting said the country faced big challenges "that require a bold vision and bigger solutions than we are offering."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Streeting had done "a fantastic job" as health secretary but that she disagreed with the position he had taken.

Streeting's camp insisted he had enough support from MPs to trigger a leadership challenge, a claim disputed by a Starmer ally. Labour MP Alan Gemmell, who supports Streeting, told BBC Radio 4's World at One that Streeting had "taken a principled decision today not to trigger a contest."

Gemmell added: "It's clear in conversations with MPs and with the unions that the party wants a discussion, a battle of ideas, an open contest, a broad contest for the direction that we should take and how we fix the problems that we're in."

Downing Street announced Thursday evening that James Murray will succeed Streeting as health secretary, moving from his role as chief secretary to the Treasury.

Rayner also announced she had resolved her tax affairs with HMRC following an investigation, settling £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty. She said she had been "exonerated" of the accusation she had "deliberately sought to avoid tax."

Rayner stood down from her cabinet roles last September after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove.

Thursday morning, Rayner told the Guardian she did not rule out running in any Labour leadership race but would not "trigger" a contest. She said: "I'll play my part in doing everything we possibly can to deliver the change, because it's not a personal ambition, I know the difference it makes."

An MP wanting to force a leadership election to remove Starmer would require 20 percent of the party's MPs to back a replacement candidate.