Andy Burnham has confirmed he is running for a seat in Parliament again, ending weeks of speculation over his future.

The Greater Manchester Mayor launched a bid on Thursday 14 May for the Makerfield seat in Wigan, after incumbent Labour MP Josh Simons announced a move to step down.

Mr Simons said: "Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for."

It comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing huge pressure to resign after Labour's battering at the local elections on May 7.

Labour lost swathes of council seats across Greater Manchester to both Reform UK and the Green Party on May 7, with a weakened grip on power in councils such as Bolton, Tameside and Oldham which are under no overall control.

Grim results for Labour rolled in across the country after polling day, with Reform taking control of Barnsley council, ending decades of Labour rule in the Yorkshire town.

Close to 100 Labour MPs have called on the Prime Minister to step down since the local elections, including some around Greater Manchester such as Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey and Stockport MP Navendu Mishra.

"It is clear that Keir must end this chaos and now set out a reasonable timetable for an orderly transition to a new leader," Ms Long-Bailey said this week.

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"We need a calm, open, contest that allows the party to debate what has gone wrong, how we win back trust, and the policies needed to transform people's lives."

If Andy Burnham is elected to Parliament, it is thought by many to be the first step towards a leadership challenge which could see the Greater Manchester Mayor end up in Number 10.

What is Andy Burnham's route back to Parliament?

The first thing is for Andy Burnham to be selected as Labour's candidate in the Makerfield by-election, which is not a given.

He was blocked in January from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election by Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), with Whalley Range councillor Angeliki Stogia standing as the party's candidate.

The NEC, a panel of ten senior party figures, voted 8-1 to stop Mr Burnham's bid to return to Parliament at the time. The body is chaired by home secretary Shabana Mahmood and the Prime Minister also has a seat.

It was reported that Shabana Mahmood MP abstained from the vote in January, and the only MP to vote in Mr Burnham's favour was Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell, who holds the Manchester Central seat.

Labour went on to lose the Gorton and Denton by-election, which was won by the Green Party's Hannah Spencer, where Labour were pushed into third behind Reform.

The loss in Gorton and Denton, coupled with Labour's hammering in the local elections, could mean the mood within the party is shifting in terms of allowing Mr Burnham a route back to Parliament.

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This could bode well for the Greater Manchester Mayor winning the backing of the NEC to stand in Makerfield.

Supporting Andy Burnham's bid, several Labour MPs have been clamouring to urge the party to allow him back to Parliament.

This includes senior figures such as Angela Rayner, who has openly called for the Greater Manchester Mayor to be allowed to run for a seat.

Speaking at the Communication Workers Union (CWU) conference in Bournemouth, Ms Rayner said: "We as the party have to do better than this and we can only prove we mean our Labour values by putting the common interest ahead of factionalism."

She added: "And we can start by accepting that Andy Burnham should never have been blocked – it was a mistake that the leadership of our party should put right."

Would Andy Burnham win a by-election in Makerfield?

If selected as Labour's candidate, Andy Burnham's challenge would be to convince voters in Makerfield to back his campaign.

That might be harder than initially thought given the recent local election results. The Makerfield constituency falls into the borough of Wigan, where Reform dominated on May 7, winning 24 out of 25 council seats up for grabs.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service and Manchester Evening News have spoken to voters across Greater Manchester in recent months, and many shared their frustration with the direction the country is heading in.

For some voters, that frustration was directed at the national Labour Party and current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

The big question is whether Andy Burnham's record as mayor and general popularity around the region would be enough to win the race.

Should he become a Labour MP again, it would open the door to him taking part in a potential party leadership contest.

How that plays out could decide the future direction of the country.

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