The results from Thursday’s by-election in Makerfield in northwest England have received unusually high levels of media attention internationally, as one of Britain’s most significant polls of its kind in decades.
Victory for Labour’s Andy Burnham, who will now step aside as mayor of Greater Manchester, puts him in a position to challenge embattled prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the country.
Mr Burnham decisively won the seat of Makerfield by more than 9,000 votes ahead of Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon.
The result cements the status of Mr Burnham, a 56-year-old politician nicknamed the “King of the North”, as the top contender to replace Sir Keir as leader of the Labour Party and the country.
Several major international media outlets – particularly in English-speaking parts of the world – followed the by-election results closely, noting their ramifications for the future of the country.
“Rebel lawmaker set to try a knockout blow to UK’s Starmer,” was the headline in the Wall Street Journal.
The paper noted that “British politics is set for a fresh bout of chaos” as Mr Burnham enters parliament, allowing him to “launch a leadership challenge against the deeply unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer“.
In a piece titled, “The local election that could topple Britain’s prime minister”, the Washington Post wrote that if Mr Burnham wins Makerfield’s election, he could be “running the entire country” as prime minister by as early as July.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation in its report said while Mr Burnham “enjoys a high profile and immense personal popularity,” his campaign was complicated by the fact he represents “the country's widely loathed Labour government”.
Some of the residents quoted by the news outlet voiced fierce support for Reform, characterising Sir Keir as someone who has had “poor judgment”, referring to his decision to have Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador in Washington.
The New York Times, in their piece titled “Labour mayor wins UK special election, clearing path to challenge Starmer”, wrote: “The win will galvanize supporters of Mr Burnham, who have argued that he offers Labour its best chance of challenging Reform.”
It added that he will now begin his preparation to try and oust Sir Keir, who “has become one of the least popular prime ministers in modern British history”.
The Economist wrote that Mr Burnham is “now Britain’s prime minister in-waiting”. “Sir Keir Starmer’s days as prime minister are numbered,” declared the magazine.
Politico headlined their article “Now the Labour civil war really begins”, after Burnham won the by-election. The paper spoke to more than two dozen politicians and allies of Mr Burnham, Sir Keir and another Labour contender, Wes Streeting, laying out that the newly elected MP “privately wants a transition this September”.
While allies of the two contenders believe that cabinet ministers could resign in the next week to put pressure on the prime minister to step aside, “if Starmer resists, Burnham or Streeting are expected to launch a formal challenge”, wrote the magazine.
