Andy Burnham confirms he is running for Labour leadership in bid to ‘save party’

This comes after the constituency seat freed up after its current MP Josh Simons announced he would step down to pave the way for Mr Burnham to return to Westminster.

If the Greater Manchester Mayor wins the Makerfield by-election, this would allow him to make a leadership bid for the role of Prime Minister, so long as he had the backing of 80 other MPs.

He said, speaking to the BBC: "Labour needs to change and be once again the party that people in this community knew and voted for for many years.

"I don't blame anybody who in recent times has gone away and voted for other parties.

"I want to regain their trust. I want Labour solidly to be the party of working class people and working class communities and that requires a lot of change."

Mr Burnham was given the approval to run for the seat yesterday by Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) after they previously blocked him from running in the Gorton & Denton by-election in February.

Speaking from Makerfield, he continued to say Britain has been on "the wrong path for 40 years", referencing the measures of Margaret Thatcher's Government which saw deindustrialisation across many northern towns and cities, as well as "privatisation of life's essentials".

He said: "Britain has been on the wrong path for 40 years. It started in this borough with deindustrialisation, deregulation of the buses, privatisation of life's essentials, and it's left us today in a position where many people in this borough cannot make things add up.

"We need to massively make life more affordable for them."

He added there is a need to "fix politics" and to "get the basics back under public and market control".

When questioned about accusations of the move being centered on his own personal ambition, Mr Burnham said: "People say it's unnecessary - I think this is a very necessary election.

"It's about fixing politics, because it's not been working for people, and people have a really strong sense of that. They voted last Thursday and the unmistakable message was: this is not good enough."

The former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has also confirmed he will be making a leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer, said there should not be a contest without Andy Burnham.

Despite the two likely to be rivals in the potential leadership race, Mr Streeting said the metro mayor was one of Labour's "best players".

The former Health Secretary said yesterday: "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."

Today, Mr Streeting said he was hoping for a "good-natured" leadership contest, if all works out.

When questioned about what his message was to those wanting Mr Burnham to win the top job, he said: "What would I say to voters who like Andy Burnham? Vote for him, vote for him in Makerfield especially.

"But throughout what I hope will be a good-natured focused on ideas I’m not going to talk down people in the party who are my friends and colleagues."

He continued to say the metro mayor had "great strengths" and was sad their stints as Health Secretary was separated by 14 years of Conservative rule.

The Makerfield by-election will take place on June 18.

Voters in the area last went to the polls on May 7, when eight wards across the constituency elected representatives to Wigan Borough Council.

Reform UK took all eight wards, recording a combined vote share of 50 per cent.

New analysis from Britain Elects suggests Mr Burnham's candidacy could prove decisive in what was once considered a Labour safe seat.

If he does win the election, he will have to step down as Greater Manchester's Mayor.