Labour was plunged into fresh civil war this afternoon after a scandal hit MP dramatically quit to clear the way for Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster, in a move that could ignite a direct challenge to Sir Keir Starmer for No 10.
Andy Burnham is poised to fight a by election in the safe Labour seat of Makerfield after Josh Simons announced he would step aside, declaring Britain needed “urgent, radical, courageous reform” and “a change in leadership”.
The extraordinary intervention will trigger a fiercely contested by election in the Greater Manchester constituency, which Labour has held since it was created in 1983, but which now faces a mounting threat from Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
In a lengthy resignation letter to constituents, Mr Simons praised Mr Burnham as the leader capable of “ripping up the existing system” and rebuilding politics around working people.
“That means stepping aside as your MP for Makerfield to make way for a leader who has the radicalism, energy, and immense courage to meet the moment,” he wrote.
“A leader who is authentic, honest, and trusted, who says what he believes and does what he says. That is Andy.”
Mr Simons, a former minister who resigned after becoming embroiled in a smear campaign against journalists linked to the think tank Labour Together, said Westminster had become “a barrier to getting things done”.
“The truth is, complacency has become a rot,” he said.
“The establishment is so far from the realities of your lives that too many tweak a failing system just to stay in power.”
The departing MP used his resignation statement to attack what he described as a stagnant political system incapable of delivering meaningful reform, despite Labour being in power.
He insisted he was leaving Parliament in order to put “the country I love first”, while throwing his full support behind the Greater Manchester mayor.
Mr Burnham swiftly confirmed he intended to seek selection for the seat and issued a rallying cry to disillusioned Labour supporters.
“We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again,” he said.
Positioning himself as an outsider to Westminster, Mr Burnham pointed to his record in Greater Manchester, where he has championed bus franchising and introduced a £2 fare cap.
“Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics,” he said.
“We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest growing city region in the UK.”
He added: “There is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again.”
The dramatic developments came after Wes Streeting resigned from the Cabinet earlier today and publicly called for a Labour leadership contest, although he stopped short of formally declaring his own candidacy.
Mr Streeting said he wanted a “broad” race to replace Sir Keir and indicated that Mr Burnham should be part of it.
Senior Labour figures immediately warned of the political risks surrounding the move.
Pat McFadden described the decision to engineer a by election as “a political risk”, warning that MPs did not simply “pick their successors”.
“There will be a selection contest, there will be an NEC process,” he said.
While praising Mr Burnham as “hugely talented”, Mr McFadden added: “In the end, quite rightly, it’s the voters who decide.”
That warning may prove prophetic.
Although Makerfield has long been regarded as safe Labour territory, Reform UK surged into second place at the last general election with 32 per cent of the vote, behind Labour’s 45 per cent.
Within minutes of the announcement, Mr Farage vowed to throw “absolutely everything” into defeating Mr Burnham.
The Reform leader said the by election would become a major battleground, raising the prospect of an explosive contest that could turn into a referendum on Labour’s leadership crisis.
The Conservatives are also expected to target the seat aggressively, fuelling speculation over whether anti Labour tactical voting could threaten Mr Burnham’s Westminster comeback.
For Sir Keir, the timing could scarcely be worse.
Instead of presenting a united government, Labour now faces open factional warfare, Cabinet resignations and the prospect of a bruising by election that may become the first real test of whether voters are turning away from the party in power.
