UK Labour Party Lawmaker’s Resignation Clears Way for Mayor’s Challenge to Starmer

Mayor Andy Burnham has stood to be Labour leader twice, with polls showing he is the party’s favorite to succeed under-pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L), former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner (C), and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (R) meet with school children at a primary school in Ashton-under-Lyne, north-west England, on April 13, 2026. Paul Ellis/AP

British Labour Party lawmaker ​Josh Simons cleared the way for a possible leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer by resigning from his seat, giving Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham the chance to return to parliament.

“Today, I am putting the people I ⁠represent and the country I love first and ​will be resigning as MP for Makerfield,” Simons wrote in a May 14 post on X. “I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter ​Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our ​country is crying out for.”