Andy Burnham

Burnham won the Makerfield by-election on 18 June 2026 with 24,927 votes, 54.8% of the poll, a majority of 9,231 over Reform UK. Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader and prime minister four days later.

By 13 July Burnham held 349 MP nominations, FAR beyond the 81 needed to force a contest, so no rival reached the members' ballot. Labour confirmed his leadership at a special conference on 17 July; three days later he became prime minister. Over the next three days he gave the Treasury to John Healey, the Foreign Office to Ed Miliband and housing to Angela Rayner; Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Peter Kyle left government altogether.

On 7 July 2026, before he took office, Burnham told Scottish Labour MPs that he would not grant a Section 30 order for another independence referendum. He offered enhanced devolution instead.

His refusal hardened the line Downing Street took after Holyrood voted 72 to 55 for a Section 30 demand on 26 May. Only the UK Government can make such an order, so a lawful referendum cannot happen while he holds to that position. On 22 September Holyrood passed John Swinney's right-to-decide motion 84 to 18 with Scottish Labour's support, a motion that does not commit Labour to a referendum.

The first polls of Burnham's premiership disagreed. Deltapoll's survey of 17 to 20 July put Labour up eight points to 28%, level with Reform UK, while YouGov two days later had Reform on 23% and Labour on 20%.

More in Common then found Labour on 28% against Reform's 24% in fieldwork from 24 to 27 July, Labour's first lead in its polling since March 2025. Deltapoll had found a similar shift weeks earlier. YouGov's tracker still showed the two parties tied at 22% each.