Makerfield by-election campaign bound to be unconventionalpublished at 20:02 BST

20:02 BST

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The campaign will be unconventional to say the least.

A former party strategist tells me the only viable campaign strategy is to stand as the vehicle to remove Keir Starmer from Downing Street.

Or if Starmer has already announced a date for his departure, then Burnham will have to run against the record of that government – of the mistakes and U-turns, and out forward a bolder and more imaginative offer.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The offer from Josh Simons to stand aside for Andy Burnham brings several issues in to sharp relief.

First, he is from a different wing of the party to Andy Burnham.

The Greater Manchester mayor’s supporters have been quick to badge him as the "unity" candidate and the hope is that this will put further pressure on Keir Starmer to set a timetable for his departure from Downing Street.

One of them said to me: "This proves that Andy Burnham is the only person who can unite the coalition the Labour Party needs to change the country. This is the way forward that the party can unite around and the PM should set out an orderly process to deliver it."

Second, it has dealt Starmer’s authority a blow. The BBC has been told that No 10 won’t ask Labour’s ruling national executive to block Burnham’s candidacy in Makerfield, as it did in Gorton and Denton.

This suggests the herd has moved and can’t be shepherded back by Starmer’s allies.

Third, it’s a test of Andy Burnham’s popularity.

The seat was once safe Labour territory but no longer. It has a majority of less than 6,000.

Reform is in second place. At the recent council elections in the area, Nigel Farage’s party gave Labour a drubbing. If Burnham fails to win, his long-held leadership ambitions are over.

Win, and the prize is almost certainly the Labour leadership, and No 10, as he will have demonstrated that he has turned the electoral tide with at least some voters who have drifted to Reform coming back - in contrast to Starmer, who has presided over tumbling poll ratings.

Becky Morton
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

Andy Burnham is no stranger to Labour leadership contests.

More than 10 years ago he ran twice, unsuccessfully, for the top job. Now he's backed by many Labour MPs as the party's best chance of recovery, after months of languishing in the polls and a devastating set of election results.

The only problem? He's not an MP - a requirement to stand as Labour leader.

In January, he was knocked back by Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) when he sought to stand in a by-election.

But he has now managed to find a Labour MP willing to stand down to give him a chance to get back to Westminster to challenge Sir Keir Starmer.

It is not a done deal - you can read more in our news story.

Jack Grey
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Shortly after 17:00 BST, Labour's Makerfield MP Josh Simons announced that he was resigning to make way for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to seek a return to Parliament.

Here's what followed:

• In his statement, Simons said his decision had "not been easy" but that Burnham could "drive the change" he says the UK needs
• A few minutes later, Burnham confirmed that he would be seeking permission from Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) to stand in the seat
• Burnham said he was looking to "bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK"
• The NEC previously blocked Burnham standing as Labour's candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, which was won by the Greens
• The BBC understands that the prime minister will not seek to block Burnham standing as Labour's candidate in Makerfield

All of this follows the resignation of Health Secretary Wes Streeting earlier this afternoon, who said he had "lost confidence" in the prime minister. However, no leadership contest has yet been triggered.

A Streeting supporter told the BBC that the former health secretary "wants Andy to have a chance to declare his intentions" before going ahead with a leadership challenge.

To trigger a contest, any prospective challenger would need the backing of 20% of the party's MPs - or 81 out of 403.

Image source, Reuters

We continue to catch you up with the latest developments in British politics. Streeting's resignation was not the only breaking news we reported on in this action-packed day:

Plot twist - Rayner 'cleared' over tax row: At 07:00, an unexpected announcement came from another potential leadership contender. Angela Rayner says HMRC cleared her of wrongdoing over her tax affairs - the message she seems to want to get across is she’s back in the fray, our political correspondent writes.

Case closed: Hours after Rayner's announcement, the BBC's political editor is shown an HMRC letter to her lawyers verifying that the tax authority now considers the row over her stamp duty as closed.

Rayner calls for reflection from Starmer: The former deputy prime minister tells The Guardian that the PM will "have to reflect" on whether he's still the right man for the job. She adds that she is ready to "play my part" to deliver on the change Labour promised to voters.

Don't plunge country into chaos - chancellor: Chancellor Rachel Reeves warns MPs not to put "economic stability" at risk by "plunging the country into chaos".

Ben Hatton
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Today has been the kind of day in Westminster where recaps like this have had to be hastily rewritten, and then rewritten again as events twisted and turned.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned, the latest in a series of departures from the government following last week's elections - and the first of a member of cabinet. Below is a quick recap of how the latest resignation unfolded.

All eyes on Streeting: We went into the day with Wes Streeting's allies having said on Wednesday they expected to him to challenge Starmer as soon as today.

Jostling for position: That's how our political editor Chris Mason describes the scene later in the morning. With nearly 90 Labour MPs calling for Starmer to go, and more than 150 giving him his backing, MPs are reportedly receiving calls from both those supportive of Starmer and supportive of Streeting.

Starmer retains confidence in Streeting: That's the word from Downing Street around lunchtime, with Starmer's spokesperson saying he would fight any challenge.

Streeting resigns: Around an hour later - amid growing speculation over whether Streeting would actually make a move - he resigns as health secretary but stops short of triggering a challenge. He calls for a "broad" contest with the "best possible field of candidates". That's widely interpreted as meaning a longer timeframe that would allow Andy Burnham - who would need to be elected an MP first - to stand.

Starmer responds: In a letter to Streeting released around 5pm, the PM says Labour is in "a battle for the soul of our nation" and part of that is delivering on "our promise to turn the page on the chaos". That followed some toing and froing over whether Streeting has the numbers.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Today is the day a Labour leadership contest effectively started - even without either a vacancy or any declared contenders.

We’ve had Angela Rayner’s 06:00 announcement about settling her tax affairs, Wes Streeting’s 13:00 resignation as health secretary, and shortly before 18:00 Andy Burnham's statement that he wants to stand in the Makerfield by-election.

None of them have explicitly said they want to succeed Keir Starmer, but behind the scenes campaign teams are forming and Labour MPs are starting to decide who they fancy.

It leaves the prime minister in an awkward position. It’s not clear any of his rivals have the 81 MPs needed to actually challenge him, yet many in Labour now seem firmly focused on who’s next.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Keir Starmer will not seek to block Andy Burnham from becoming the Labour candidate in Makerfield, the BBC understands.

No 10 has indicated to Labour MPs that it will not seek to block Burnham.

An ally of Starmer says: "Keir is focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families.”

Chris Mason
Political editor

In the four years I’ve done this job, there have been four prime ministers. So when it comes to governments facing implosion, either at the hands of their own MPs or the electorate, this isn’t my first recent rodeo.

The stimulus for messes like this, ultimately, is public sentiment - Labour’s pummelling in those elections last week and the slow burn of frustration in Keir Starmer from lots of Labour MPs.

But the short term consequence is paralysing for any government. And that paralysis looks likely to last for a bit.

Tonight, after a day of frenzied noise, briefings and no shortage of wild conjecture - the cabinet has lost a health secretary, the mayor of Manchester has found a parliamentary seat to fight, but there is still no formal leadership contest.

Allies of the prime minister claim to me privately Wes Streeting’s nowhere near the magic number of 81 MPs to trigger one.

His team insist he is and they wanted to leave space for Andy Burnham to intervene. Team Burnham insist there’s been no coordination with the Streeting camp.

Meanwhile, for now at least, Starmer remains defiant, bullish, if - in all likelihood - fatally undermined. And this whole saga is only just getting going.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Winning the Makerfield by-election could be a major challenge for Andy Burnham, if indeed he becomes his party’s candidate.

For decades the constituency on the edge of Greater Manchester was considered one of Labour’s safest. The party’s majority from the 2024 general election stands at 5,399.

But Reform UK hammered Labour there at the local elections last week, and Nigel Farage has already committed to “throwing absolutely everything” at the by-election.

Before that campaign begins, a subcommittee of Labour’s ruling National Executive will decide whether Burnham can put himself forward to be the party's candidate.

In January, Keir Starmer helped block Andy Burnham for standing in a different by-election in the north-west of England.

This time round the prime minister is in a far weaker position, and many of his allies believe Starmer can no longer block the ambitions of the Greater Manchester mayor.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Some crucial points about Andy Burnham’s statement beyond the headline announcement that he wants to stand in Makerfield.

There is a very, very strong implication that — as we essentially know — he wants to become leader of the Labour Party if victorious.

“Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again,” he writes. “This is why I now seek people’s support to return to parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK."

And he gives an indication of what he believes the leadership timetable should be. “We owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the prime minister and the government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place.”

In other words, let Keir Starmer stay in place with the minimum of drama during this by-election. And then there will be a leadership contest, presumably between Burnham and Wes Streeting and - potentially - Keir Starmer.

The big unknown question hanging behind this is whether Starmer will seek to block Burnham again, and then whether he could persuade Labour’s national executive to go along with that.

But nobody I have spoken to this evening believes there is any serious prospect that Starmer has the authority to block Burnham again.

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

While Burnham says he wants to stand in Makerfield, there is no guarantee the Greater Manchester mayor will even be able to contest the by-election as a Labour candidate.

Remember, Burnham applied to be a candidate in February's Gorton and Denton by-election, but was blocked by Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC).

At the time, Labour said the party had decided to deny him permission to stand to "avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers' money and resources".

Fast forward three months, and the NEC faces the same decision, albeit in very different circumstances.

Reacting to Simons’s decision to stand down live on BBC Radio 4 earlier, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden says “any unnecessary by-election is always a political risk”, and that “one thing I've learned in politics is that MPs don't get to pick their successors”.

McFadden says any decisions on who should be the Labour candidate in Makerfield are “party decisions”.

He says the "NEC will have to consider the whole thing", and that if Burnham were to stand it “would mean having a by-election in Greater Manchester” for the mayoralty.

Last time, Starmer and his allies on the NEC voted overwhelmingly to block the Greater Manchester mayor’s attempted return to Westminster.

But as the prime minister faces a deepening leadership crisis, can the NEC do the same again without further provoking restive Labour MPs already in open revolt?

Certain irony in Josh Simons opening the door for Burnhampublished at 18:04 BST

18:04 BST

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Westminster

Image source, UK Parliament

There is a certain irony in the fact that Josh Simons has volunteered to end Andy Burnham’s long search for an MP to stand down to give him a chance to get back into Parliament to challenge Keir Starmer.

Before becoming MP for Makerfield, in the north west of England, Simons ran the think tank Labour Together, which was instrumental in Starmer's rise to power.

But he quit as a Cabinet Office minister in February over claims Labour Together had commissioned a report that looked into the background of journalists, saying he had "become a distraction from this government's important work".

Over the weekend, Simons joined the ranks of Labour MPs calling on Starmer to stand down, saying he had “lost the country”.

Now he has emerged as a full-throated cheerleader for Burnham, saying that if the Greater Manchester mayor manages to get elected in his seat he can “drive the change our country is crying out for”.

This is a massive moment for Labourpublished at 17:59 BST

17:59 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Josh Simons’ announcement is a massive moment.

Speaking to MPs, ministers and officials from various wings of the party there is a total consensus that it would be very, very hard for Keir Starmer to try to block Andy Burnham from returning to Parliament, as he did earlier this year ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election.

One minister said to me: “I think Josh has just single-handedly given the Labour Party a route to winning back the trust of the British people.”

I asked them if they were a supporter of Burnham becoming leader. The minister replied: “If he wins [the by-election] we all are.”

Another MP, from the right of the party, said Simons’s decision was “politically brave” and and “allows us to settle the question of if Andy Burnham is the right person for prime minister once and for all.”

Burnham 'only person' to unite Labour, supporter tells BBCpublished at 17:55 BST

17:55 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor

An Andy Burnham supporter in the Common has just told me: "There we go! Clear consensus now across the Party that Andy should be allowed to stand and that the PM should set out a timetable.

"Andy Burnham is the only person who can unite the coalition the Labour Party needs to change the country and beat Reform at the next election.

"This is the way forward that the Party can unite around and the PM should set out an orderly process to deliver it."

Here's Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham's announcement about his intention to run in Makerfield, in full:

I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election.

I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics. Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster.

Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic.

Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures.

However, 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.

This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people. Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed.

It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place.

I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been.

He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that. Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times.

We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again.

More from Andy Burnham.

The Greater Manchester mayor says that he grew up in Makerfield "and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics."

But he says that people need change from "a national level" to make everyday life affordable.

"This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people," Burnham writes.

Burnham adds that he wants "to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making".

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Andy Burnham has just released a statement.

"I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election."

We'll have more on this shortly.

More now from Simons's statement. He says the decision to resign "has not been an easy" one to make.

But the Makerfield MP says that if elected, Burnham could "drive the change our country is crying out for".

"We have lost the trust of those our party was built to serve. It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference."

Simons says Labour "has one last chance" to "drive economic growth, secure our borders, reform our state and politics".

"That is the fight. I believe Andy is the one to lead it," he says.

Labour MP Josh Simons has just issued a statement: "Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield.

"I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home."

We'll have more on this shortly.