Labour MP stands aside as Andy Burnham eyes return to Parliament

[Twiglets1]

A scandal-hit Labour MP will give up his seat to make way for Andy Burnham, in the Manchester mayor’s first step to challenging Sir Keir Starmer for No 10.

Josh Simons, a former minister, said on Thursday that he was “standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for”.

It will trigger a by-election in the Greater Manchester constituency of Makerfield, which has been held by the Labour Party since it was created in 1983.

Mr Simons is a former minister who was forced to resign over his involvement in a smear campaign against journalists carried out while he ran the think tank Labour Together.

“It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference,” he said. “That must start with a change in leadership.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/14/keir-starmer-live-rayner-wes-streeting-leadership-contest/

However you are splitting hairs.
Maybe I should have said predominantly or overwhelmingly?

Its not splitting hairs

ALL is far more inflammatory so well worth calling out as factually inaccurate

Why is Josh Simon standing down though for Burnham ? What’s he’s getting in return ?
MPs on 90k a year don’t just give up a job after 20 months to give way form someone else..
Somethings not right here ..

And Reform have absolutely nothing to lose. They’ll potentially win a MPs seat and a Mayor’s job.
Labour have a lot to lose ..

Having heard that Restore also plan to run a candidate for this seat, I now think Burnham will take it. Bet Nigel is hopping mad.

Oh God, if he's been involved in the 'SEND reforms' with her and she thinks he's been good at it, he's not someone I want anywhere near power.

Agreed. Also, why was he working on SEND reforms with her? He’s not an elected member of Parliament? Is this not an example of overreach?

Quite apart from the cost of the by-election, how much will it cost to run a mayoral election in Greater Manchester and who are the likely candidates? Is it not more dangerous for a Reform candidate to get hold of the northern capital? Who is bankrolling Andy Burnham here? I just cannot help but see this as the ultimate act of hubris. And pride always comes before a fall. Labour will lose power at the next general election and will spend more years in the wilderness. There is no chance of Andy Burnham having a successful stint as a prime minister, even if he is shoe horned in for a short period. The Labour Party deserves everything it gets now.

Yes I think this is what’s making the whole thing weird. Perhaps he’ll be guaranteed to stand the next and any future by elections till he wins, maybe seat in the HoL, who knows. Has HE made any comment to his constituents as part of his announcement (I haven’t looked)

Maybe it’s about rehabilitation of his reputation as he was caught spying on/monitoring journalists who were legitimately reporting on the work of the government? More shady and nasty dealings. Personally, I’m so sick of the Machiavellian manoeuvrings of male politicians. I’ve reached the point in my life - after 30 years of voting Labour - that I think that Guy Fawkes had the right idea. I still hope that Andy Burnham loses the Makerfield seat and can never regain his mayoralty.

Unfortunately I don't think at this point that the female politicians are any different.

It's now being reported that a member of the cabinet (unidentified of course) has told a journalist that Starmer is going to jack it in and announce his 'timetable of departure' in the next few days. So there will be a leadership contest over the summer presumably, though whether that includes Burnham will remain to be seen.

So the Labour Party has officially confirmed Andy Burnham as its candidate to stand in the Makerfield by-election.

Three other official candidates have been announced as standing in the Makerfield by-election:

Alan "Howlin" Laud Hope, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Robert Kenyon, Reform UK - a self-employed plumber who stood in the constituency in the 2024 general election, and came second to Labour's Josh Simons.

Rebecca Shepherd, Restore Britain - a local businesswoman who was described by the party as "understanding first-hand the pressures facing local businesses and working families across the area".

Who do we think will win?? Restore standing could split the Reform vote, so my money is on Burnham.

Andy Burnham is the “narrow favourite” to win the Makerfield by-election despite the seat being “tailor-made” for Reform UK, a leading pollster has claimed.

Luke Tryl, the director of More in Common, said Mr Burnham’s local credentials as mayor of Greater Manchester and his “anti-Westminster” image gave him a slender advantage over Nigel Farage’s party. He believes Burnham’s personal popularity would give Labour a 20 percentage point boost in its poll rating.

He pointed to how well he performed in the 2024 mayoral election, held two months before the general election. Mr Burnham secured 63 per cent of the votes in Greater Manchester, up 20 percentage points on the 43 per cent vote-share Labour secured in the city during the general election.

In Wigan, where Makerfield is based, Mr Burnham outperformed Labour by 19 percentage points. He won 66 per cent of the votes in the borough, compared with the party’s 47 per cent it won in the general election.

Although an estimated 65 per cent of Makerfield voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, Mr Tryl said More in Common’s modelling showed the area would probably vote Remain if a referendum were held today.

His comments will prove a blow to Reform, who are expected to make “Brexit betrayal” one of its key attack lines in Makerfield. The party has planned to publish leaflets quoting Mr Burnham’s previous comments that he hoped Britain would rejoin the EU “in his lifetime”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/19/burnham-narrow-favourite-to-win-in-makerfield/

Yes, I too think Burnham will win due to the split in the right wing vote. The Greens, if they stand (think Caroline Lucas said yesterday that they shouldn't, to protect Burnham) won't get far in such a constituency, to the extent that they would damage Labour's chances.

I read that the Greens are going to be an announcing a candidate today.

Don't think Polanski listens to what Caroline Lucas has to say - she's far too sensible!

There would be absolute fury on the left if the Greens took even a couple of thousand votes off Burnham and allowed Reform to just edge ahead. I'm not sure what their support is like in that area though. He seems to have carefully selected a constituency with low numbers of Muslim and student voters!

He hasn’t selected it. It’s also a constituency that overwhelmingly voted Leave ten years ago. It’s far from ideal, however much it might suit your purposes to think it is.

I doubt Simons gave up his seat just like that, surprising and delighting the Burhamites. A lot of thought will have gone into assessing which constituencies would be 1. safe seats in traditional Labour strongholds 2. in Greater Manchester where Burnham is well known and popular 3, don't have high percentages of Muslim constituents who might opt to vote Green. There is no 'ideal' Labour seat atm where a victory could be guaranteed. And some kind of deal will have been struck with Simons to make it worth his while.

I can't read the whole article because it's behind a paywall but looks like the Greens might have found a candidate 🙄

Greens’ frontrunner shared post saying Israel ‘ruining the world’

Hayley Pierce, an artist, is believed to be the party’s preferred choice to challenge Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/green-candidate-makerfield-by-election-hayley-pierce-r3dgfn6ft

Archive ph or Archive today is your friend for reading any article behind a paywall. Simply cut and paste the article link, insert it into the text box, confirm you are a human and voilà. All for free.

Wonder what it was about Hayley that make her such an attractive candidate for the Green party🙄🙄

Ooh that's useful to know. Though the article isn't much longer than the headline:

A frontrunner to be the Green Party candidate in Makerfield shared posts that claimed Israel is “ruining the world”.

Hayley Pierce, a portrait artist, is understood to be the Greens’ preferred choice to take on Andy Burnham and Reform UK in the upcoming by-election.

Party sources said the mother of two, understood to have been selected by local party members at a meeting this week, was undergoing “emergency vetting” by Green Party HQ in anticipation of the announcement.

https://archive.ph/6jOOB#selection-1547.0-1555.208

An enthusiastic Israel-basher who opposes a local housing development while her party bangs on about the housing crisis and our duty to asylum seekers. Sounds about right.

What could possibly go wrong for the Green party with candidates like her being selected for important seats?