Andy Burnham storms to victory in Makerfield by-election

Andy Burnham has secured a comfortable victory in the highly anticipated Makerfield by-election, winning more than 50% of the vote. 

Burnham will now return to parliament after months of speculation over his political future and resign his position as mayor of Greater Manchester. The by-election will also pile pressure on Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to step down and make way for Burnham. 

The Makerfield by-election was triggered after Josh Simons, a former junior minister, announced that he would resign the seat. Simons outlined his decision to stand down in the days after the May 2026 local and devolved parliament elections. In a statement at the time, Simons called for a “change in leadership” and for Burnham to “drive the change our country is crying out for.”

Burnham won a total of 24,927 votes (54.8%) in Makerfield – a majority of 9,231 over the Reform UK candidate in third place. Restore Britain, the radical right party led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, placed third with 3,111 votes (6.8%). 

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Meanwhile, in the two other by-elections held on 18 June, the Conservative Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) won one seat each. These contests were triggered after two incumbent SNP MPs stepped down from the parliament at Westminster to take up their place in the Scottish Parliament. 

In Stephen Flynn’s former Aberdeen South constituency, Conservative candidate Douglas Lumsden emerged victorious with 14,308 votes (49.5%) – a majority of 6,050 over the second-placed SNP candidate. 

In Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, Lara Bird retained the seat for the SNP with 9,802 votes (5.9%). 

In his victory speech in Makerfield, Burnham warned that Labour has a “final chance to change”. 

Addressing the by-election count, the Greater Manchester mayor declared: “This is a final chance to change.

“This is what people said directly to me on the hundreds of doorsteps that I stood on.

“We must hear it. We must act upon it, and we must get it right.

“There will be no second chance, but it is a chance now, from this result tonight, to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, politics of the kind we’ve seen in the United States. 

“We must now take this path and put this country back on the right path, and bring people back together and get things working properly again.”

Burnham previously represented the Leigh constituency in parliament from 2001 to 2017.

Keir Starmer responded to the Makerfield by-election by congratulating Burnham on his victory. 

In a post to social media, the prime minister stated: “Congratulations, Andy Burnham, Labour’s new MP for Makerfield.

“Voters chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

Josh Self is editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here and X here.

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