In short: Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, announced on 14 May that he will stand in the upcoming Makerfield by-election, a constituency held until last week by Labour MP Josh Simons. Wes Streeting resigned from cabinet the same day, saying he had “lost confidence” in Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. The Prime Minister returned to Labour headquarters on Monday 18 May, telling staff that “the election results were not the ones that we wanted” but that he intended to get on with the job.
Sir Keir Starmer attempted to reassert his grip on Downing Street on Monday, addressing party workers at Labour headquarters with what one Westminster correspondent described as “a campaign speech without a campaign.” The Prime Minister thanked staff for their work during the 7 May local elections and acknowledged the toll of the past ten days, in which he has faced the most serious internal revolt of any Labour leader in modern times.
“The election results were not the ones that we wanted, they were really tough,” Starmer told the audience. “But you worked your socks off. It’s not been easy circumstances in the last 10 days.”
Burnham’s path to Parliament
The proximate cause of this week’s drama is the decision by Andy Burnham, the popular Mayor of Greater Manchester, to seek a return to the House of Commons. Burnham confirmed on 14 May that he would contest the Makerfield by-election, triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Josh Simons earlier the same day. The vote is expected on 18 June.
Applications for the Labour candidacy in Makerfield closed on Monday, with the party’s National Executive Committee due to endorse a candidate on Thursday. Burnham had previously sought to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, but his candidacy was blocked by the NEC by an 8–1 vote. The seat was won by Hannah Spencer of the Green Party, with Labour finishing third.
Speaking in Manchester on Monday, Burnham framed his return to Westminster explicitly as a vehicle for changing the direction of his party. “If I get to stand, a vote for me will be a vote to change Labour, because Labour needs to change if we are to regain people’s trust,” he said. “I know what my party has offered in the past has simply not been good enough.”
Streeting’s resignation reshapes the field
The other major development of the past week is the resignation of Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, who left cabinet on 14 May with a letter that mixed praise for his own NHS reforms with a sharp critique of the Prime Minister. Streeting wrote that he had “lost confidence” in Starmer’s leadership and that it would be “dishonourable and unprincipled” to remain in office.
Streeting has subsequently confirmed that he will stand in any leadership contest that may be triggered. To trigger such a contest, a challenger requires nominations from 81 Labour MPs — 20% of the parliamentary party. According to the most recent reporting by the Press Association, around 97 Labour MPs have publicly called for Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, while 110 backbenchers have signed a letter urging the party to avoid a leadership challenge.
The cabinet rallies — for now
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy gave the Prime Minister vocal backing over the weekend, telling colleagues that “no-one seems to have the names to stand up” against Starmer and advising party members to “take a breath.” The cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon was reported as functional but tense, with ministers conscious that the King’s Speech later in the week may briefly displace leadership questions from the news agenda.
For markets, the immediate consequence of the political turmoil has been a renewed sell-off in gilts and weakness in sterling, with the FTSE 100 trading flat to slightly lower on Monday at around 10,149 points. Analysts at AskTraders warned that a prolonged Labour leadership contest — particularly one in which candidates openly advocate EU re-entry — could reignite Brexit uncertainty for the FTSE 250 and domestic-facing mid-caps.
None of the visible contenders — Burnham, Streeting, Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband, Shabana Mahmood, David Lammy or Al Carns — has yet formally triggered a contest. The question that will define the rest of Parliament’s summer is whether the 81-nomination threshold can be reached before the recess. If it can, the Prime Minister’s premiership becomes a matter of weeks rather than years. If it cannot, Starmer survives long enough to attempt the reset he announced on Monday.
