Streeting backs Burnham claiming he has 'best chance of winning' Makerfield by-election
Former health secretary Wes Streeting said Labour needs "our best players on the pitch" and "Andy Burnham is one of them" as he backed him to win the Makerfield by-election.
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Mr Burnham declared he would seek permission from Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) to contest the by-election after the current MP, Josh Simons, announced on Thursday he would quit Parliament to make way for the mayor.
Backing the Manchester Mayor to win, Mr Streeting wrote on X: “We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them.
“The Makerfield by-election will be tough.
“Votes will need to be earned. Andy is the best chance of winning and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person.”
It comes just a day after Mr Streeting resigned from his post in the Cabinet in a dramatic departure - suggesting he will soon challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership.
But if Mr Burnham is successful in the by-election, the Greater Manchester mayor is also expected to go for the top spot in the party.
We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them.
— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) May 15, 2026
The Makerfield by-election will be tough. Votes will need to be earned.
Andy is the best chance of winning and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person. https://t.co/b1yONxufPD
In a letter to Sir Keir, Mr Streeting said on Thursday he had "lost confidence" in the PM's leadership and that remaining in post would be "dishonourable and unprincipled".
Mr Streeting told the Prime Minister it was “now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election”.
Hours later, Mr Simons announced he was stepping down as Labour MP for Makerfield - and Mr Burnham released a statement on X just a few minutes after that.
The mayor said: "I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election.
"I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics. "Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours.
"I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic.
"Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics."
Reform UK has vowed to throw everything at the Makerfield by-election to ensure Mr Burnham doesn't win.
Speaking to LBC on Friday, Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said the party will make "Burnham history" as he promised a "rapid selection" process for a candidate to stand against him.
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell has also backed Mr Burnham to win. She told the Fire Brigades Union conference that the Manchester mayor would be a “key player” in the fight against Reform.
She added that she would “fully support him in wanting to come back to Westminster”, saying she had it on “good authority” that there will be “absolutely no attempt” to stop him from standing.