Read in full: Andy Burnham's victory speech after winning Makerfield by-election
In his victory speech he urged his party to act now, saying there would be no second chance.
Andy Burnham said Labour had a “final chance to change” after his decisive win in the Makerfield by-election set up a showdown with Sir Keir Starmer.
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Allies of Mr Burnham called on the Prime Minister to hand over power after he defied national trends to increase Labour’s share of the vote in a seat where Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made sweeping gains in last month’s local elections.
The Prime Minister has insisted he will not quit and will fight any leadership challenge.
Mr Burnham defeated Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon by 9,231 votes, up from 5,399 in 2024, and Labour’s vote share increased by 9.61%.
In his victory speech he urged his party to act now, saying there would be no second chance.
Read his full speech below.
Read more: Andy Burnham wins blockbuster by-election as he plots leadership showdown with Starmer
Andy Burnham's full speech after winning the Makerfield by-election
Can I thank everybody who has worked so hard to make this election run so smoothly and so safely?
Thank you very much, everybody. And can I say to my fellow candidates—Yes, all of you. Can I say to you all, thank you for at least a civil debate between us.
Everything going on around the election: we manage that, and that's really important.
Everyone knows that politics isn't working. Everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.
From here on, I will give everything I have got to make it so, to ensure the name Makerfield is forever synonymous with bringing about the change this country needs, bringing back something we've lost: Hope. Hope for the future. Hope.
I am proud that this place has shone in the world spotlight these last 5 weeks, and the warmth, humor, and hospitality of its people has been on show for all to see.
It will never be a stepping stone to me, but instead will be my touchstone. A Makerfield test at the heart of British politics will ensure the places Westminster has neglected will now get fairness.
I spoke in the campaign about the need to change politics. I promised to lead by example from the front as your Member of Parliament.
I know people who traditionally vote for the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, and perhaps more recently in May for Reform UK, have given me their support in this election. I will always have respect to them for that.
And out of respect for them, I will always take a place-first rather than a party-first approach, and I will focus on problem-solving rather than point-scoring. And I will work hard after this by-election to heal the divisions of this campaign. And let it be really understood that I will be your MP, however you voted.
When this borough went to the polls in May, it made a loud cry for change. In this campaign, we have begun to answer that. But I do say to my own party, this is a final chance to change. This is what people said directly to me on the hundreds of doorsteps that I stood on. We must hear it. We must act upon it and we must get it right.
There will be no second chance. But it is a chance now, from this result tonight, to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States.
We must now take this path, and put this country back on the right path and bring people back together and get things working properly again.
It is with some sadness that this result brings an end to my wonderful 9 years as Mayor of Greater Manchester. This city region has given so much to me. And it is a wrench to leave the job I love.
But I am not leaving the service of Greater Manchester. I've always been clear that it can't achieve everything it should be. And we can't close the north-south divide. And we can't make all the great English cities be what they should be without big change at the national level.
I always knew one day I would seek to go back to Westminster to complete that unfinished business, so that Makerfield and Greater Manchester and the North of England can fulfil their potential. And I will forever be grateful to the people here, the people of the wonderful places that make up this constituency, the proud places that always have deserved so much more.
I will forever be grateful to them that they have given me the chance to go back and make this country work for Makerfield and the many places, places like it across the country who have been neglected, who feel that the country works for other people in other places but not for them.
And that changes tonight. This result changes that. This result will bring about a country that works fairly for everywhere and for everybody. People here have voted for change. They have voted for more power for the North and everywhere forgotten by Westminster. They have voted for hope. Now let's give that back to them. Thank you very much indeed, everybody.