Andy Burnham Wins UK By-Election, Casts Doubt on Starmer's Future as PM | GRAVITAS

[00:00:01][music] [music] [music] >> Is 10 Downing Street set to witness yet another round of musical chairs? Will the UK get its fifth prime minister in a span of 4 years? The scenario is increasingly gaining traction after Labour's Andy Burnham swept the Makerfield parliamentary by-poll in the UK. This by-election, by the way, took place as his aide stepped down last month to enable Burnham to challenge Keir Starmer's leadership. And the scale of the victory of Burnham, who re-entered Parliament after a gap of 9 years, has also become a major talking point. While his predecessor won by over 5,300 votes, he trounced Reform UK's candidate by a margin of 9,231 votes. 9,231.

[00:01:10]As compared to 2024, for example, Labour's vote share increased by over 9%.

[00:01:16]But only 2.2% of the electorate reposed trust in the Conservative Party.

[00:01:22]And as far as Reform UK is concerned, it marginally improved its vote share.

[00:01:29]Burnham dropped a clear hint about his future plans in his victory speech, terming this win as Labour's final chance to change. He called upon his party to read the people's mood on the ground. Listen to this.

[00:01:42]>> Second chance, but it is a chance now from this result tonight to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States. We must now take this path and put this country back on the right path.

[00:02:10]>> Now, why exactly is this win so significant?

[00:02:13]Here's the context. The 56-year-old joined the Labour Party as a teenager.

[00:02:17]In 2001, he first entered the parliament and retained the seat in 2005, 2010, as well as 2015. While he served as a junior minister from 2005 to 2007, he was promoted as a secretary for culture, media, and sport in 2008 when Gordon Brown was the prime minister.

[00:02:41]And a year later, he took charge as the UK's health minister. However, his career took another turn as he was elected as the mayor for Greater Manchester in 2017.

[00:02:56]And during his 9-year tenure as the mayor, he is perceived to have spearheaded development of Greater Manchester, improved its public transport system, and also addressed the homeliness homelessness issue.

[00:03:09]For championing the cause of the home region, he has been nicknamed King of the North, which is basically a Game of Thrones-inspired title. In a bid to stand out, he projects himself as an amiable politician, preferring t-shirts to a suit and tie. In a bid to also reassure people ahead of his prospective leadership challenge, he gave top advisory roles to three top economists even before winning the by-poll. And this included ex-Bank of England chief and former Treasury minister as well.

[00:03:42]And this also assumes significance amid Britain's rising fiscal challenges under Starmer. For example, the UK government's difference between expenditure and income from taxes was 30.7 billion US dollars in the month of May.

[00:03:59]And this was the highest recorded figure in the last 6 years.

[00:04:03]What awaits the UK in the next few days and weeks is a big question now. In the first scenario, Burnham may try to convince Starmer to step down, and if that does not materialize, he can also become a challenger by bagging the support of 20% members of the UK's House of Commons, which amounts to 81 MPs.

[00:04:25]Apart from that, he should also be backed by 5% of the Labour Party branches or affiliated trade unions.

[00:04:36]In this election, both party members as well as affiliated trade union supporters are able to vote. It is worth noting here that Burnham ran twice for the Labour Party's leadership in 2010 as well as 2015, but lost on both occasions.

[00:04:53]Now, Starmer has been under pressure, which is only mounting. Remember, he's been under pressure to quit since the Epstein files fall out. This came after emails released by the US Department of Justice put the spotlight majorly on the deep association, as alleged, between Britain's ex-envoy to the US, Peter Mandelson, and the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

[00:05:17]In fact, the woes worsened in the month of May after the Labour suffered heavy losses in the local body elections, with the party losing more than 1,000 municipal seats, even as his government has been rocked by a series of resignations by top ministers, such as Wes Streeting and Jon Healey.

[00:05:35]In fact, Starmer has ruled out the possibility of resigning. In fact, he vowed to fight it out, even Burnham mounts a leadership challenge.

[00:05:46]>> So, contest, just to be clear with you, then yes I will run. I will stand and I've said repeatedly I'm not going to walk away from that.

[00:05:55]>> However, the public mood is increasingly in favor of his ouster, it seems.

[00:06:00]Let's tell you about the latest Ipsos poll. It surveyed 1,142 adults across the UK.

[00:06:08]Over half of the respondents called on Starmer to step down immediately. They wanted him to resign immediately. On the other hand, Andy Burnham emerging as the most popular contender to replace Starmer, indicating dissatisfaction with the government, basically. 23% people demanded a new general election to be held.

[00:06:29]>> Andy Burnham would like to be the man to replace him. Um whether he's everyone's cup of tea, I don't know, but I think I think there's a strong possibility, yes.

[00:06:42]>> Meanwhile, Starmer has downplayed or at least tried to downplay any immediate leadership challenge and even hinted at offering Burnham a key cabinet portfolio. But then, with that growing demand within the party for his resignation, it seems to be clear that the UK leader faces a fierce test ahead. To stay up to speed with the latest news, download the WION app and subscribe to our YouTube channel.