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Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, stood outside 10 Downing Street and said that he would resign as leader of the Labour party. Nominations for a successor would open on 9 July (though he still meant to unveil his defence investment plan in time for the Nato summit on 7 July). His decision to depart followed the convincing victory in the Makerfield by-election of Andy Burnham, bringing him back into parliament. An election for mayor of Greater Manchester in his place would take place on 30 July, with Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester City Council, as Labour’s candidate. Mr Burnham packed a suit and tie into which he changed on the train from Manchester Piccadilly to London. He was sworn in as an MP that afternoon.
Mr Burnham had received 24,927 votes (54.8 per cent) for Labour in the by-election and the Reform candidate 15,696, with Restore securing 3,111. The turnout was 58.8 per cent, against 52.5 at the general election. In two other by-elections, Douglas Lumsden for the Conservatives won Aberdeen South with 49.5 per cent of the vote and Lara Bird won Arbroath and Broughty Ferry for the SNP, where the Tories and Reform pushed Labour into fourth place. Peter Murrell, 61, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party and the estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, the former leader of the party, was jailed for five years and three months for embezzling £400,310.65. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, 63, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, was convicted of 18 offences, including one of rape, against two women who were children at the time, more than 30 years ago. Cameron Thomas, the MP for Tewkesbury, had the Liberal Democrat whip withdrawn after he was arrested on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour and assault. A boy aged three was badly wounded by a crocodile after being thrown into its enclosure at a zoo in Huntingdonshire.
