Andy Burnham defends decision to stand in Makerfield

The Greater Manchester Mayor has been allowed this week, by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), to contest the by-election after the current MP, Josh Simons, announced on Thursday he would quit Parliament to make way for Burnham.

If successful, Burnham is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the party leadership.

Channel 4 News spoke with Burnham in the Makerfield constituency.

He said: “I wouldn’t have just gone anywhere like a carpet bagger, any old constituency.

“It matters to me that I have a connection. I live literally on the edge of this constituency.

“My kids went to school a few hundred yards down the road. I know people here, I know how they think, how they feel”

Burnham addressed the background to Josh Simons’ decision to step down and clear a path for his candidacy, he said: “I was very deliberate in speaking to Josh and both of us have got the same diagnosis.”

Pushed for his views on the path forward for his party and the policy challenges facing the country, Burnham said he wanted Labour to become “a party that they can believe in again, a party solidly on the side of working class people.”

He called the events of the week “an important, big moment in British politics,” arguing that communities like Makerfield have been failed by decades of deindustrialisation, deregulation and privatisation post “Margaret Thatcher”.

“Life here has become unaffordable for people in places like this,” he said, calling for “a different path completely” and “re-industrialisation”, including stronger public control of energy, housing, water and transport.

He pointed to Greater Manchester’s bus franchising model and £2 fares as proof public control can work for ordinary people rather than “private shareholders.”

He said his campaign would focus on listening: “On doorsteps, I’m not going to spend my time point scoring”, adding: “I don’t blame anyone who’s left our party and voted for other parties. Our party needs to do better and it’s kind of where I’m coming from in this campaign.”

Asked about leadership ambitions, Burnham said the immediate priority was “winning a by-election with what I’m saying” and delivering real change for communities like Makerfield.