Labour to include Andy Burnham in candidate selection for Makerfield by-election
Andy Burnham will be among the potential Labour candidates to stand in the Makerfield by-election, the party’s ruling body has said.
The Greater Manchester Mayor declared he would seek permission from 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 Mr Burnham.
If successful, Mr Burnham is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the party leadership.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee has today given permission to Andy Burnham to stand in the candidate selection process in the forthcoming by-election for the Makerfield constituency.”
Applications for the selection process open today (Friday) and will close on Monday, the NEC has decided.
It will endorse a candidate to run for the seat in the Greater Manchester constituency on Thursday.
Mr Burnham’s previous bid to contest a by-election, in Gorton and Denton, was rejected by an NEC’s officers committee, which included Sir Keir.
Labour expects a stiff challenge from Reform UK in Makerfield, with Mr Simons securing a majority of just 5,399 over Nigel Farage’s party at the 2024 general election.
Since then, Labour’s polling collapse and Reform’s surge have seen their positions reverse.
This month’s local elections saw Reform win every council ward in the Makerfield constituency, securing around half the vote, while Labour won only a little more than a quarter.
But Mr Burnham could benefit from his strong personal following across the North West, where he enjoys a net favourability rating of 24% according to pollster Ipsos – considerably higher than any of the party leaders or the Labour Party itself.
The election could prove expensive, especially as a victory for Mr Burnham would trigger another by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty.
A by-election in Makerfield alone could cost the taxpayer up to £226,000, the most the area’s returning officer can claim from the Treasury to cover the cost of running the poll.
But the cost of a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester would run into the millions, with the 2024 mayoral election costing the taxpayer £4.7 million.
Published: by Radio NewsHub