Senior London MP Wes Streeting hit the campaign trail on Monday to get Andy Burnham elected as the new MP for Makerfield.
Mr Streeting, who recently resigned as Health Secretary with withering criticism of Sir Keir Starmer’s government, was in the North West ahead of the by-election on Thursday June 18.
Ilford North MP Mr Streeting posted on X: “The team in Makerfield have run a first class campaign with @andy4makerfield.
“It was great to join them for the start of polling week!”
The team in Makerfield have run a first class campaign with @andy4makerfield.
— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) June 15, 2026
It was great to join them for the start of polling week!
It’s @AndyBurnhamGM or Nigel Farage’s candidate on Thursday.
Let’s make sure it’s Team Labour that wins it with Andy 🌹 pic.twitter.com/bk6lYQFYgl
Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham is favourite to win the seat, according to polls.
In a sign that Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon may be trailing in second place by a growing margin, the party’s leader Nigel Farage ramped up his rhetoric claiming that there is now a “two-tier state against white people” in Britain.
His comment was slammed by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, who said Mr Farage should “take his nasty hate and anger and division somewhere else”.
Cabinet ministers, Labour MPs and activists have poured into Makerfield to campaign for Mr Burnham, despite him having made clear that he wants to replace Sir Keir in Downing Street.
In a sign of how politics can be complex, Mr Streeting is backing the Greater Manchester Mayor even though they could soon face off in a leadership contest.
Westminster is gripped by what will happen if Mr Burnham wins the by-election and heads back to the Commons, having previously served as Health Secretary and Culture Secretary.
There is growing talk that he will quickly launch a move to replace Sir Keir as Prime Minister.
Mr Burnham has not yet made his intentions clear and could take his time before seeking to gain the keys to No10.
However, there was mounting speculation that there will be a groundswell of support among Labour MPs for Mr Burnham if he returns to Parliament, giving him momentum to press ahead swiftly with his aim to deliver change in Government and in Britain.
Many Labour MPs believe there should be a contest for the leadership, rather than a “coronation” even if Mr Burnham, who has been dubbed the “King of the North” gains huge backing.
The resignations of John Healey as Defence Secretary and Al Carns as Armed Forces Minister last week are reported to have increased the likelihood of an early move against the PM.
Possible contenders in a leadership contest, including Mr Streeting and Mr Carns, have already seemingly started jockeying for position, having signalled their intention that they may run.
But Sir Keir has vowed to fight any attempts to oust him and has stressed that he has a mandate, won at the 2024 election, for his blueprint for the country.
“I don’t think we should have a challenge, because I think it’ll throw the country into chaos,” he told ITV’s This Morning.
“If there is a challenge, I will fight. I’m not going to walk away from this.
“We won a landslide victory just two years ago with a clear mandate to change the country, that’s a five-year mandate.”
Sir Keir’s premiership has been under pressure since Labour’s disastrous May local election results, including in London, and setbacks in Wales and Scotland.
Mr Burnham would need to secure the backing of 81 Labour MPs to mount a leadership challenge.
He said that he had been “honest” with voters that “my own side’s not good enough” and is vowing to deliver “change”.
Just days away from voters going to the polls in Makerfield on Thursday, he said: “I kind of feel as we go into the final stretch that the voters of this constituency could be about to write a new script for British politics, and how good is that?
“Change the story.
“It’s becoming more and more divided, isn’t it? And we can see what’s happening.
“We don’t want to end up like the United States of America, where people don’t talk to each other in the street if they vote different ways.”
The Makerfield by-election is widely expected to be a two-horse race between Mr Burnham and Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon.
The contest was triggered by former minister Josh Simons quitting to open up a path for Mr Burnham’s return to the Commons.
Mr Simons won Makerfield in 2024 by just 5,399 votes while Reform comfortably won every ward in the constituency in May’s local elections.
