Following the UK Labour Party’s stunning losses in last week’s local elections, a one-time ally of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has now resigned his parliamentary seat to allow for Manchester’s popular Mayor, Andy Burnham, to re-enter Parliament and challenge for leadership.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Labour MP Josh Simons has announced his resignation from the Makerfield seat, allowing Greater Manchester Mayor and Labour Party favorite Andy Burnham to contest a by-election (special election). The move is an underhanded tactical step to allow Burnham, who left Parliament almost a decade ago, to re-enter the House of Commons and position himself for a leadership challenge within the Labour Party. Simons was believed to be an ally of Starmer until his skullduggery today. The Labour Party won the Makerfield seat with a 5,400-vote majority in 2024. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK came second, with all other parties trailing far behind. 📺 DETAIL: In his statement, Simons expressed his belief in the need for “urgent, radical, courageous reform” within Labour, citing Burnham as the leader to drive such change. Simons’s resignation came in the midst of Labour tensions highlighted by Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s resignation earlier today. Furthermore, Burnham’s candidacy must be approved by the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which previously blocked Burnham’s path back into the Commons at the Prime Minister’s behest. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for.” – Josh Simons 🎯 UNDERSTAND MORE: Sir Keir Starmer is clinging on by a thread as Prime Minister, especially given the drubbing Nigel Farage’s Reform UK delivered in the nation’s local elections last week. Now, with 91 of his 402 MPs calling for his resignation, he tried to fend off leadership challenges from a number of candidates this week, delivering a speech which fell flat nationally, and within his party. Kemi Badenoch’s “Conservative” Party – which just did a deal with the far-left Green Party in another part of the country in order to keep the Reform UK party out of power – could end up keeping Labour in power if they insist on fielding a candidate in the Makerfield special election. |
If Kemi Badenoch's Conservative Party was serious about stopping the Labour Party, they would not field a candidate in the upcoming Makerfield by-election. pic.twitter.com/msCplOvVxc
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) May 14, 2026
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