Andy Burnham's Makerfield win piles pressure on Keir Starmer

[00:00:00]The man whose supporters call him the king of the north is now a step closer to becoming the political king of the country. Andy Burnham, the man who wants to be our next Prime Minister, is heading back to to Westminster after becoming the new MP for Makerfield.

[00:00:15]>> Well, of course, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, you will find out this morning beat the Reform UK candidate resoundingly by more than 9,000 votes in that by-election. And this, of course, causing to question as Ranvir said, Sir Keir Starmer's future.

[00:00:33]Uh what next? Well, our political correspondent, Louisa James, was at the count. Weren't you, Louisa? Andy Burnham said his win could be a turning point for politics, denying that it was a stepping stone to Westminster, but a keystone and a key moment for politics.

[00:00:51]So, what will Sir Keir Starmer be thinking about all of this?

[00:00:58]>> Well, one of the most surreal things about tonight, and indeed this whole campaign, is that Andy Burnham won't say out loud that he is going to take down the Prime Minister, but we all know that that is why he is here. And indeed, that is what he meant when, in his victory speech, he talked about hope and change and having unfinished business. It became pretty clear early on in the night that Andy Burnham was going to win this. What was more a surprise was the size of his victory, winning 55% of the vote on a on a very high turnout, nearly 60%, and coming 9,000 votes ahead of the Reform UK candidate, Robert Kenyon. Now, Andy Burnham left without taking any questions from reporters. He told us he was heading to the pub, but he left us to read between the lines of his victory speech.

[00:01:48]>> Everyone knows that politics isn't working. Everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be.

[00:01:58]Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.

[00:02:04]From here on, I will give everything I have got to make it so, to ensure the name Makerfield is forever synonymous with bringing about the change this country needs.

[00:02:21]>> Well, we did speak to one of those who brought about this victory, uh Lisa Nandy, uh one of Andy Burnham's long-term friends, uh an MP for a neighboring constituency, but when you watch this interview with her, bear in mind that she is also one of Keir Starmer's cabinet ministers, and she also insisted that she is not going to resign that position.

[00:02:43]>> He is the only politician, Labour politician in the country, that could have pulled off that result. I mean, that wasn't just a win, that was an emphatic win. I'm sure there'll be a conversation with the Prime Minister, but that's not for tonight. Tonight's about the people of Makerfield.

[00:02:57]>> Well, it begs the question that if Andy Burnham is, in her words, the only person who could have pulled pulled this off, the only person who can turn around what the national polls are saying, which is that Reform are way ahead, shouldn't he be the one in number 10 Downing Street? Well, when I put that to Lisa Nandy, she said she wanted Andy Burnham to have a seat at the top table, in other words, be in the cabinet, but we already know that Andy Burnham doesn't want that. Uh so, what will happen next? Well, here is Burnham's effective campaign manager, former cabinet minister, Louise Haigh.

[00:03:30]>> Andy's not going to be making a move in the coming days. He wants to give the Prime Minister some time and space to reflect on what we hope tonight's result will look like, consider what's in the best interest for the country and for the party, and I really hope that Andy and Keir will be able to meet and come to that decision collectively. I hope that he will consider what's right for the country and the party, which means setting out the steps for an orderly transition.

[00:03:59]>> Well, let's come back to your question.

[00:04:00]What is going through Keir Starmer's head at the moment? So far, he has shown absolutely no sign of wanting to set out an orderly timetable for leaving. He said earlier on this week at the G7 that he wasn't going anywhere, and actually Labour should be focusing on what will now be an election for Andy Burnham's old job as Greater Manchester Mayor. The question really is who moves next?

[00:04:19]Because we've just heard Andy Burnham's team saying they're going to give the Prime Minister space, but we could see cabinet ministers resigning or at least having conversations with him. Keir Starmer may decide to make up his mind himself over the weekend and and decide to go, or we could see a a formal challenge from someone else like the former health secretary Wes Streeting.

[00:04:38]One thing is for certain, Andy Burnham has been talking about the people of Ashton-under-Lyne and other places in this constituency creating a new script for politics. Well, they've certainly written a new chapter, but the ending of all this, well, that is still up in the air.

[00:04:53]>> Louisa, thank you very much indeed. So, Keir Starmer has made a statement congratulating You normally expect a Prime Minister when a member of his party has done so well for that to come out straight away.

[00:05:07]This was 4 minutes ago, so we were already on air some 3 hours after the win. Um you That was very quick. I hope you had a chance to read it, but it was a simple congratulations statement.

[00:05:18]>> Well, and it and it goes on to say voters chose Labour's campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate. But of course, one of the interesting things about all the campaigning for Andy Burnham was that people They were almost trying not to say the word Labour. It was Andy Burnham is winning. Andy Burnham is your person. Sort of let's just, you know, the the word Labour was sort of being whispered almost, I felt, in Well, hear from >> I know what you mean. It was almost like we are different to what you've got in government. So, Keir Starmer in that statement saying he is part of me and us.

[00:05:51]>> Yeah.

[00:05:52]>> Interesting. Well, look, there were also two other by-elections in Scotland overnight. Perhaps not of the same scale and publicity, but very significant nonetheless. Conservative Douglas Lumsden took Aberdeen South from the SMP with a majority of more than 6,000 votes. Now, this is the first time Scottish Conservatives have won a Westminster by-election in more than 50 years. And it's significant because a lot of it was fought on Aberdeen, of course, very reliant on the North Sea oil industry.

[00:06:23]>> Yes.

[00:06:24]>> And a lot of, you know, struggles have happened in that community.

[00:06:28]>> have decided not to renew licenses there. And Kemi Badenoch, who's been on this show many times, >> saying drill, and we must get that back for the country and also for the people of Aberdeen. So, an interesting win in terms of policy there.

[00:06:39]>> Absolutely.

[00:06:40]>> And the SMP held Arbroath and Broughty Ferry. So, Labour Labour there won more than 9,000 votes. So, perhaps less of a surprise. Reform UK took second place. So, no comfort for Labour in those, but they've got the English big win in Andy Burnham.