Andy Burnham’s Parliament win puts pressure on Starmer

Andy Burnham has returned to Parliament after winning a special election in Makerfield, a result the Associated Press reported is expected to set up a challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The win matters because Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, is being cast by allies as a possible answer to Labour’s falling popularity since Starmer’s landslide election victory two years ago.

Burnham, 56, called the by-election a “turning point” for British politics, according to the Associated Press. AP reported that he defeated the candidate from Reform UK, the anti-immigration party, after three earlier mayoral victories in Greater Manchester had already strengthened his image inside Labour as an election winner.

A northern Labour figure returns to Westminster

According to AP, Burnham was raised in northwest England between Liverpool and Manchester, the son of a British Telecom engineer and a receptionist. He joined Labour as a teenager, studied at Cambridge University and entered Parliament in 2001.

AP reported that Burnham spent 15 years as a lawmaker, rose during Tony Blair’s premiership and served in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet from 2007 to 2010. He ran for Labour leader in 2010 and 2015, losing both contests, before leaving Westminster to become mayor of Greater Manchester.

Burnham has led Greater Manchester since 2017, AP reported. The news agency said he has been associated with regeneration in Manchester’s city center and with bringing the region’s fragmented public transport system under public control as the Bee Network.

AP also noted Burnham’s role in supporting the campaign for justice after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, when 97 Liverpool supporters died in a crush at a soccer match in Sheffield. Advocacy by victims’ families exposed police failures and false claims that blamed drunken fans, AP reported, and led to a government apology.

Policy pitch and political doubts

Burnham’s “King of the North” nickname, AP reported, comes from “Game of Thrones” and reflects both his regional profile and his political ambition. He gained wider attention during the COVID-19 pandemic when he confronted Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson over what Burnham called a “London-centric” response to the crisis, according to AP.

During the Makerfield campaign, Burnham said, “What we’ve built in Greater Manchester needs to go national,” according to AP. In a speech after the vote, he listed priorities including better vocational education, more jobs for young people, lower energy bills, cheaper rail fares and “an end to trickle down economics,” AP reported.

Makerfield voter Ellen Picton, 66, told AP she was “absolutely thrilled” by the result and described Burnham as “a man for the common people.” She said he understood what people were going through.

Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, told AP that Burnham’s northern brand raises questions about whether he can appeal across the rest of the country. Bale also said Burnham appears to have the “X factor” that makes some voters see him as someone who can communicate with ordinary people.

AP reported that critics view Burnham’s politics as vague and question how he would pay for his promises. They also argue that running a country of about 70 million people is far different from leading a city region of 3 million.

Bale told AP that Burnham is “probably one of the most popular politicians in the country,” while adding that the distinction says only so much in the current political climate.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.