Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure after a Cabinet member publicly called for his resignation. Heidi Alexander, the Secretary of State for Transport, has become the first Labour MP in the Cabinet to tell the Prime Minister to step down following Andy Burnham's by-election victory in Makerfield.
Burnham won the seat with a majority of 9,231 votes, defeating Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Turnout reached around 45,000 voters, with results announced early Friday morning. Alexander, who supported Burnham in his 2010 and 2015 Labour leadership bids, urged Starmer to step aside.
Despite the calls, Starmer has vowed to fight to retain his position. He told reporters that a leadership contest would "plunge us into chaos" and stressed the need for unity ahead of the upcoming Greater Manchester mayoral by-election to replace Burnham. "I don't think that's a good thing for the country," he said.
Burnham has outlined his vision, calling for an end to "trickle down economics" and a focus on reindustrialising the North of England, reforming Whitehall procurement to support British businesses, and shifting education away from a university-dominated model towards employment skills.
Starmer's position has been weakened by heavy losses in the May local elections, where Labour lost thousands of council seats. Josh Simons previously resigned his parliamentary seat to allow Burnham to run for PM. Burnham thanked Simons, saying, "I know you did it for all of the right reasons."
Starmer remains defiant, stating he will run if a leadership contest occurs, but urged the party to "pull together" for the mayoral by-election.
