Labour has been plunged into fresh chaos after Andy Burnham announced that he is seeking a return to the Commons and Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary on another dramatic day in Westminster.
Josh Simons, a former ally of Sir Keir Starmer who was recently forced to resign as a minister, stunned colleagues by stepping down as an MP on Thursday to allow Mr Burnham to stand in his Makerfield seat, paving the way for a challenge to the prime minister.
It came hours after Mr Streeting ended days of speculation after he quit the cabinet, saying he had “lost confidence” in the PM as he called for a contest for the Labour leadership.
Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said that her tax affairs had been resolved with HMRC, seen as a stumbling block by many to a leadership bid – but she later suggested she may back Mr Burnham instead of running herself.
Other possible contenders include energy secretary Ed Miliband and armed forces minister Al Carns.
Mr Simons, who was caught up in the Labour Together scandal over allegations of smearing journalists and Labour MPs, said: “I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. 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.”
Mr Burnham confirmed his plans to stand in a tweet, promising to make Labour “a party you can believe in again” – an apparent swipe at Sir Keir and the uncertainty engulfing the party.
No 10 has indicated it will not seek to block the move, as it did last year at the Gorton and Denton by-election.
But even if Mr Burnham can stand in the seat – close to his former Leigh constituency – the contest will not be straightforward, with Labour defending a majority of 5,399. Electoral Calculus says Reform has an 82 per cent chance of winning the seat, with Labour just 17 per cent.
Labour supporters will hope that Mr Burnham’s star quality can overcome Reform UK, but Nigel Farage said: “We look forward to the contest and we will throw absolutely everything at it.”
Mr Simons is a surprise candidate to step down because he was a younger, ambitious MP first elected in 2024.
Sir Keir loyalist, welfare secretary Pat McFadden, warned: “There is a danger when we create a by-election that isn’t necessary. In the past, that has been a risky thing to do.”
He insisted that Sir Keir will fight on to lead the party, pointing out that the leadership process “hasn’t as yet been triggered”.
Mr McFadden added: “[Sir Keir] feels a deep sense of duty to the country as prime minister. It’s been a dramatic week, but I think he can continue. He wants to continue.”
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell will say Mr Burnham, Mr Streeting and Angela Rayner should all be seen as “key players” in the party in a speech on Friday.
Ms Powell will also repeat her support for Mr Burnham’s efforts to return to Parliament and will say she is confident Mr Burnham will have the support of the “vast majority of the party and movement” to make a bid to come back to Westminster.
The move comes after more than 90 Labour MPs demanded Sir Keir quit and five ministers, including Mr Streeting, resigned from the government amid the fallout from Labour’s disastrous local election results last week.
In a stinging resignation letter, Mr Streeting gave a scathing assessment of the prime minister’s leadership.
Referring to Sir Keir’s failed make-or-break plea, he said: “Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift. This was underscored by your speech on Monday.
“Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords. You also need to listen to your colleagues, including backbenchers, and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices diminishes our politics.”
On Thursday evening former chief secretary to the Treasury James Murray was appointed as the new health secretary.
There was some speculation that Mr Streeting did not have the backing of the 81 MPs required to trigger a leadership election, but allies admitted that he had held back from starting a contest himself because he believed the party would not accept one without Mr Burnham being involved.
“[The contest] needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this,” he wrote in his letter.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch weighed in on the chaos, saying: “I told Wes Streeting to do his job, but instead he has done a hit job on the prime minister. The Labour Party is now in civil war. Meanwhile, no one is running the country.”
There were reports that a delegation of cabinet ministers is to plead with Sir Keir to set a timetable for his departure in a bid to end the crisis.
Only a day before the resignation, Downing Street had insisted the prime minister had “full confidence” in Mr Streeting as health secretary.
In his letter of response to Mr Streeting, Sir Keir wrote: “I am truly sorry you will no longer be sat at the cabinet table helping transform our national health service.”
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