Overview
- Following heavy local and regional losses to Reform UK, more than 80 Labour MPs have publicly urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down.
- Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary on Thursday, has now said he will run to replace Starmer, with allies claiming he has the 81 MP nominations needed to trigger a contest.
- Labour MP Josh Simons vacated his Makerfield seat on Thursday to open a route back to Parliament for Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who has announced he will seek the Labour nomination for the by-election.
- Burnham still needs party approval to stand and then must win in Makerfield, where recent local tallies showed Reform UK far ahead of Labour.
- Under party rules a challenger needs support from 20% of Labour MPs, and any contest would test whether a change at the top can steady the government and blunt Reform UK's surge.