Politics Home | Starmer Loyalist Labour MPs Resist Campaigning For Burnham In Makerfield

22 May 2026. Andy Burnham launches his campaign as Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election. (Alamy)

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Multiple Labour backbenchers who remain loyal to the Prime Minister have told PoliticsHome that they will defy instructions to visit the constituency in the northwest of England at least twice before polls close on 18 June.

A Labour MP who has decided not to campaign in Makerfield told PoliticsHome: “There’s great confusion about the by-election. People feel like they are being asked to take part in an act of self-harm and so aren’t happy about campaigning. 

“There’s real upset that at a time when we need to be tackling some big national issues, we are creating an unnecessary diversion.”

The by-election is widely described as one of the most consequential in British political history.

Burnham, the Greater Manchester Mayor, is expected to launch a bid to replace Starmer in No 10 if he secures his return to the House of Commons later this month. Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon is expected to be Burnham’s closest rival, with a Survation poll last week putting Burnham three per cent ahead of Kenyon (43 per cent to 40 per cent). 

The by-election was triggered when Josh Simons resigned as the constituency’s MP as part of the wider Labour revolt against Starmer’s leadership following a disastrous set of local elections last month.

Labour MPs and campaigners “from every corner of the country and every corner of the party” are travelling to Makerfield to campaign for Burnham, a party source recently told The House magazine. Party chair Anna Turley has asked all Labour MPs to canvass in the by-election twice during the campaign, plus polling day. 

However, Labour MPs who oppose a leadership contest are deeply unhappy about being asked to campaign for Burnham, with some refusing to travel to the constituency altogether.

Some backbenchers have agreed to make phone calls instead of campaigning on the ground in Makerfield. Some MPs are still deciding whether or not to go up, while others have told PoliticsHome they would “reluctantly” make a single visit to “show their face”. 

Some Labour MPs who don’t plan to visit the constituency cite the practical difficulty of getting there, insisting the issue is “distance, not personalities”. But others were more candid, pointing to the awkwardness of effectively being asked to campaign against their own PM.

The Labour MP quoted above added: “We have to win the by-election, but does that mean we are coronating him (Burnham)? Most of us don’t even know the guy; he’s not the reason why we are here.

“If he wins, are we all then expected to have a much harder fight for the (Manchester) mayoralty, which will give us a bigger, bloodier nose than this.”

The Greater Manchester mayor is running his by-election campaign on a pledge to “Change Labour”, saying the party “needs to change if we are to regain people’s trust”. 

Former health secretary Wes Streeting, who resigned from the government last month out of protest against Starmer’s leadership, has already gone up to Makerfield to campaign for Burnham, despite being expected to run in a future leadership contest. 

A Labour source told PoliticsHome: “Thousands of party activists, supporters, councillors and MPs have been campaigning every day in Makerfield to make sure we win this by-election.

 

“The vast majority of the PLP will have been up by next week – everyone is pulling together to make sure we get Andy over the line on Thursday 18 June and win this for Labour. It’s vital that we send Reform packing.”