Andy Burnham sets his sights on Downing Street after seismic victory in Makerfield by-election

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The Mayor of Greater Manchester won the keenly contested by-election in Wigan - beating a challenge from Reform's Robert Kenyon.

He received 24,927 votes to storm past Mr Kenyon, who received 15,696 votes.

The figures give Mr Burnham a huge majority.

After a brief interruption from a protester, Mr Burnham took to the stage to give a rousing victory speech.

Opening, the newly elected MP declared: "Everyone knows that politics is not working. Tonight could just, could be the turning point."

Read more: Makerfield residents are not just sick of vox pops, they're sick of politicians who don't listen, writes Natasha Clark

Read more: Starmer 'amasses war chest' to fight Burnham and Streeting leadership challenge

Addressing a common attack point from the campaign, Mr Burnham said Makerfield "will never be a stepping stone to me".

He added: "It will instead be my touchstone. A Makerfield test at the heart of British politics."

In a thinly veiled dig at Sir Keir, he said: "This is a final chance for change. This is what people said directly to me on the hundred of doorsteps I stood on.

"We must hear it. We must act upon it. We will not get a second chance."

Ahead of the results, the New Statesman reported that Mr Burnham already has the support of the 80 Labour MPs needed to launch a formal challenge to Sir Keir.

The magazine added that it is thought that the newly-elected MP for Makerfield will not trigger the process immediately, preferring to speak to Sir Keir soon and bid him to stand down.

Fellow leadership hopeful Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, is said to have met Mr Burnham while campaigning in Makerfield on Monday.

A source told the Guardian newspaper that “no deals were done” as a result of the meeting.

Despite this, the Prime Minister has repeatedly made it clear he has no intention of standing down and says that he will fight any challenge to his leadership.

Later reports suggested that Sir Keir has amassed a six-figure war chest to fund an attempt at seeing off a potential leadership challenge in the near future.

It has been reported that the Prime Minister has received support from an affluent set of private donors, despite earlier reports that he was struggling to raise the funds needed to defend himself.

Departing the stage, Mr Burnham told LBC's Natasha Clark that he was going "for a pint".