The special MP Makerfield election has delivered a decisive win for Labour’s Andy Burnham. This means Burnham can now challenge Labour’s current leader, and Britian’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, for both mantles. Restore Britian failed to beat expectations, finishing at just under the predicted 7%. The three right-leaning parties, Reform, Restore, and Conservatives, combined failed to match Burnham’s total of 55%.
UK’s Starmer faces leadership challenge as rival Burnham becomes MP– www.cnbc.com
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EXCERPT:
Andy Burnham has won a special election to the British parliament, clearing a path for him to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the party leadership.
Burnham, Labour’s former Greater Manchester mayor, defeated the Reform U.K. party by more than 9,000 votes, taking nearly 55% of the vote, in the election in Makerfield, in north-west England.
Burnham could now trigger a leadership challenge to Starmer as soon as next week, once he is formally sworn in as a Member of Parliament.
A prominent figure on the party’s left often dubbed Labour’s “King in the North,” Burnham said in his victory speech that Makerfield was “not a stepping stone” but a “touchstone,” promising to put neglected communities at the center of his politics.
In his victory acceptance speech, Burnham appeared to lay the groundwork for a leadership bid.
