LONDON (AP) — Keir Starmer isn’t on the ballot, but the U.K. prime minister’s future is on the line in a special election on Thursday.Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England are electing a new lawmaker, and the leading contender is Andy Burnham of the governing Labour Party, the current mayor of Greater Manchester and oddsmakers’ favorite to be the next prime minister.If Burnham defeats a candidate from the anti-immigration party Reform UK and wins the seat for Labour, he’s almost certain to challenge the embattled Starmer for leadership of the party, and the country.Burnham has pledged that “if people put their trust in me, I will change politics” — a big promise for a politician who, if he wins, will be just one of 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons. But the scores of journalists from around the world who have flocked to Makerfield during the campaign are evidence that this is no normal by-election, the results of which are due early Friday.
Starmer struggles since landslide winAbout 75,000 people are eligible to vote in Makerfield, a constituency that encompasses several towns and villages on the edge of Greater Manchester, 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of London.They hold in their hands the fate of Starmer, whose popularity has cratered since he led the center-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.Starmer’s government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the U.K. ambassador to the United States.
