Labour Starmer challenger wins seat in northern England

Labour mayor Andy Burnham decisively won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday, clearing a path to challenge British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor known as “King of the North”, won the contest in Makerfield with 54.8 per cent of the vote. His closest rival, from Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party, received 34.5 per cent. The scale of Burnham’s victory signals potential political instability for Starmer’s leadership.