The crisis in No 10 shows democracy at work, writes Andrew Marr

All this talk of cliques, coups and careerism is, frankly, disgusting to those just trying to get through the week okay.

But let me make a counterargument. The crisis in No 10, including Wes Streeting's resignation, wasn’t made in Westminster. It was driven, democratically, by the votes of millions of people up and down the country, who expressed their anger by putting their crosses against anti-Labour candidates. Politicians are responding to this mood. And now, in Makerfield, we have the next episode.

No by-election in British history has been as important as this one. If Andy Burnham wins, he will transform the political mood, as well as propel himself into the premiership.

From what we saw earlier in the month, Makerfield should go Reform easily. If Burnham can stop that and offer a more convincing version of social democracy, he can cancel the general impression that Nigel Farage is marching inexorably to power at the next election.

If he loses, there will be absolute chaos at Westminster, and Labour’s decline as a national party will be accelerated. It really is all or nothing. A massive roll of the dice.

But, again, let us celebrate the fact that the choice will not be in the hands of Westminster bag carriers, party apparatchiks, MPs, posters, or journalists… But in the hands of ordinary voters.

Here, on making life more affordable from rent bills to rail stations, is Andy Burnham this afternoon:

"Do you want Makerfield and the North to stay on the same path it’s been for the last 40 years, or do you want a new path which brings the country back together and makes it work for everyone?

“I know why I’m standing, I know what I’m offering.

"I know what my party has offered in the past has simply not been good enough.”

"The loss of faith of voters across the north, so many of whom once saw us as their natural party, is our fault, and nobody else's. I want to help fix that, and I hope people will give me the chance to make that case”

And what, in all of this, of the Prime Minister himself? He said he’s giving 100% support in the by-election and won’t set a timetable for his own departure. Maybe that will hold, maybe it won’t.

Rather than simply lurking in Downing Street, waiting for events to unfold, perhaps Starmer ought to get ahead of them. It’s been suggested he list his immediate priorities: perhaps getting the Hillsborough law through, delivering the investment he’s promised in defence, and striking a new agreement at the European Summit in the summer.

If he announced his departure but said he needed to do these things first, I think the Parliamentary Labour Party would rally behind him. He could even leave on a bit of a high. Just a thought.

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Andrew Marr is an author, journalist and presenter for LBC.

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