Andy Burnham will be Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election, the party has announced.
Mr Burnham said he was “proud and humbled” to be selected, and vowed to ensure the voices of people in Makerfield were “heard loud and clear”.
It is understood that the Greater Manchester mayor was the only person shortlisted for selection by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, bypassing a vote by the local party.
The decision sets up a contest between Mr Burnham and Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon, a local plumber who contested the seat for the party in 2024.
Mr Burnham has put himself forward as the candidate to “change Labour”, using a campaign video to call for a “new path for Britain”.
Following his selection, Mr Burnham said: “These proud working-class communities represent the very best values of our country and they deserve so much better. It would be my honour to work for them every day, if elected as their MP, to achieve that.
“Many people here feel Westminster isn’t working for them and they are right. I am standing to change that and get the voice of these communities heard loud and clear.”
I am proud and humbled to have been selected as Labour’s candidate for Makerfield.
These proud working-class communities represent the very best values of our country and they deserve so much better. It would be my honour to work for them every day, if elected as their MP, to…
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) May 19, 2026
If he returns to Parliament, Mr Burnham is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, but the Prime Minister has insisted he will not “walk away” from Downing Street.
In his video, the mayor described the by-election in Makerfield as “the most consequential of our lives” and said he did not “take anything for granted”.
Setting out his political views, he said: “Manchesterism is the end of neoliberalism, the end of trickle-down economics that has left out places like Makerfield.
“Make no mistake, that means a new path for Britain.”
In a tweet after his selection, he pledged a “relentless focus on reducing people’s everyday costs”, saying that “more than anything, people need life to be more affordable again”.
Mr Burnham has sought to reassure voters in the Leave-supporting Makerfield constituency that he is not seeking to rejoin the European Union – something he said last year he would like to see happen in his lifetime.
And he has also attempted to calm the bond markets by insisting he will stick to the Government’s fiscal rules.
The by-election, likely to take place on June 18, could still prove a tough contest for Labour.
The previous MP Josh Simons, who formally quit Parliament on Monday, won the seat in 2024 by just 5,399 votes while Reform comfortably won every ward in the constituency at last month’s local elections.
However, pollster Luke Tryl suggested Mr Burnham’s candidacy could be worth a 20-point boost for Labour in a seat “tailor-made” for Reform, putting him “narrowly ahead”.
Meanwhile, Reform’s Nigel Farage also unveiled its candidate Mr Kenyon on Tuesday, describing the contest as a “David versus Goliath battle”.
Mr Kenyon, who was born in the constituency and won 31.8% of the vote in 2024, said: “Makerfield has never had a member of Parliament who was actually born in Makerfield.
“This will be a tough fight but I am going to give this contest my best shot.”