Heidi Alexander has become the first known Cabinet member to tell Keir Starmer he should step down as Prime Minister following Andy Burnham’s victory.
It’s understood that a Cabinet minister has privately urged Keir Starmer to step aside after Andy Burnham’s by-election win. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is the first known Labour MP to openly back that view.
Burnham’s win in Makerfield appears to have intensified pressure on Starmer, with Alexander reportedly telling the PM it’s time to move on. She has backed Burnham for years, supporting his Labour leadership bids in both 2010 and 2015.
Despite growing calls for his resignation, Starmer has made it clear he intends to fight for his position. Burnham is widely expected to mount a leadership challenge, but Starmer insists he has no plans to walk away.
Ahead of his Makerfield victory, Burnham told supporters that a new Labour leader could “open the door to the real change people here deserve.”
Burnham secured the seat with 9,231 votes, beating the challenge from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Around 45,000 people cast their ballots in Thursday’s by-election, with the result confirmed shortly after 3am on Friday.
Setting out his vision, Burnham called for an end to trickle-down economics and pushed for a major effort to reindustrialise the North of England. He also called for Whitehall procurement reforms to better support British businesses.
Burnham argued education should no longer be dominated by the university route and should instead place greater focus on helping people into work.
Starmer has faced mounting pressure to quit since Labour’s disastrous local election results in May, where the party lost thousands of seats.
Only weeks ago, Josh Simons resigned his seat to allow Burnham to launch a bid for Prime Minister. Burnham thanked him, saying: “I know you did it for all the right reasons.”
Still, Starmer warned that a leadership contest would throw Labour into chaos and said the party now needs to unite.
“There isn’t a leadership contest at the moment,” he told reporters. “And I don’t think plunging the country into chaos would be a good thing.
“Andy’s win is important — he’s a huge asset to us. But with a Manchester mayoral by-election now beginning, we need to pull together.
“If there is a contest, then yes — I will run.”
