Andy Burnham's resounding victory in the Makerfield by-election handed Labour one last chance, supporters say, after a campaign that earned every vote. In Stubshaw Cross Community Club, hope was palpable. Burnham is now expected to seek the Labour leadership, according to Reuters chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman.
If Burnham succeeds in gaining the keys to Number 10, a tight circle of MPs and advisers are likely to take key roles. The former transport secretary – the first of Sir Keir Starmer's cabinet ministers to quit after it emerged in November 2024 that she had a fraud conviction prior to entering parliament – has been a major figure in the Makerfield campaign, basing herself in the constituency. On the backbenches she emerged as a crucial power broker on Labour's soft left and was at the heart of the huge rebellion that scuppered the government's welfare cuts in 2025. She is in line for a big cabinet job.
“Andy Burnham's resounding Makerfield victory sets up expected Labour leadership bid, with a tight inner circle poised for key roles.”
Another key ally is Midgley, MP for Knowsley since 2024, who worked for Starmer's office in opposition following stints at the TUC, Unite and in Jeremy Corbyn's team. She is seen as a plausible candidate for chief whip or even political secretary in Downing Street – a role not usually held by an elected politician.
Fahnbulleh resigned as a junior minister for communities after the May elections and is from Labour's soft left. Since then she has been working on policy ideas for a potential Burnham government. She previously ran the New Economics Foundation think tank.
Simons, who gave up his seat for Burnham and was praised for his "selflessness" by the new MP in a speech to supporters on Friday morning, is said to have been helping Team Burnham on policy. He worked for and then fell out with Jeremy Corbyn, ran a pro-Starmer think tank, became a minister quickly, and resigned over accusations about his conduct at the think tank. He is seen as a likely candidate for a role in a Burnham Downing Street.
Burnham's deputy mayor for policing and crime, Green, has been canvassing MPs about their opinions on what a Burnham government should do and is seen as a possible candidate for a role in Downing Street. Before taking up her current role in 2023, she was an MP for 12 years, including a stint in Starmer's shadow cabinet.
Burnham's closest adviser, Lee, ran his first Labour leadership campaign in 2010, advised him when he was shadow health secretary and has been running his mayoral office since 2017. He is a dead cert for a role in a Burnham Downing Street.
As the independently-elected deputy leader, Lucy Powell has her own big role to play regardless of who the Labour leader is. But the temptation now, as the New Statesman notes, will be to mistake a change of mood for a change of course. The sense of decline draped across the country has not lifted: debt too high, growth too low, living standards stagnant. The blanket of pessimism is not immovable, but lifting it will take political leadership of the highest order.