“It slaps of complacency”

The starting gun has been fired. 48 hours and two resignations later and Keir Starmer`s premiership has become embroiled in chaos once again.

Wes Streeting has resigned as Secretary of state for Health and social care and now Josh Simons has stepped down as an MP to clear a path for Andy Burnham to make a return to Westminster. 

In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Streeting alluded to the damage of the scandals of the last six months and the myriad of resignations that have followed, “Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords”.

The second page of Streeting`s resignation Letter

The impact this has had on voters' trust in Starmer and the Labour party as whole has at least been recognised by Streeting (and Simons and Burham but more on them later). He emphasised that multiple mistakes has left the country "not knowing who [the labour party] are or what [they] really stand for” and it is in part because of this that labour lost 1229 councillors while Reform gained 1372. Of course some of these changes will have been triggered by a protest vote, either angry at the government for its assortment of unpopular policies or due to a general dislike for those currently in power. Either way their loss is Reforms gain. 

Although these are only local elections and don`t necessarily translate to an overall reform win in a general election -however soon that may be- you can recognise one major difference between the two parties: people can identify what Reform stands for while the same cannot be said for Labour. 

Now, where it gets interesting. Later in the afternoon on May 14th, Josh Simons (the MP for Makerfield previously at the centre of the scandal surrounding the think tank Labour together using smear tactics against journalists) stepped down as a member of Parliament to provide an opportunity for Burnham to return to Westminster. In his statement posted on X, Simons blasted the government he had served in for having “talked big, then acted small” and acknowledged that real reform would be essential if the Labour party is to be saved.  Similarly Burnham wrote on his X account that “Much bigger change is needed at a national level…” and it can only be assumed from the events of the day leading up to Burnham releasing this statement that he believes he is the man to bring about this national transformation.

Clearly the statements from all three show the turmoil that has been brewing within the Labour party for some time. Although I`m sure there were lengthy discussions, compromises and deals made behind the scenes, Simons does seem to care about his constituents and believes that stepping aside for Andy Burnham will be beneficial to the people of Makerfield.

“My party has one last chance” - Josh Simons

Really the thing that is most frustrating is the entitlement. The expectation of support. Just because the seat was won by Labour in 2024 does not mean it will happen again in 2026, especially when the local election results in the area were a huge success for Reform. Politicians are using the internal chaos within their party to seek a personal, perhaps even professional advantage. These rebels, and the ones to still emerge are claiming to act in the name of the country when in reality they are acting for their own self interest. Burnham and Streeting both have their eyes on the prize but the damage they are doing, not only to their party but to the country they seek to lead is irreparable. 

There is just one other problem…what if Andy Burnham doesn`t win the Makerfield by election? Could it turn turquoise and give Reform another MP? 

When reading Andy Burnham`s statement in full it does more than set out his intention to run as an MP, it also lays out his bid for the party leadership. “We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again”. This is not a statement from a man positioning himself to be an MP. This is a statement from a man positioning himself to be the next Prime Minister.

“I do not take a single vote for granted” - Andy Burnham. 

Someone that shares this frustration with the ongoing battles consuming Labour is Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon who told Martin Daubney on GB news on Thursday evening that the plotting and scheming to get Burnham back into Westminster "slaps of complacency” and found that it was detracting from the real problems facing the country. 

 “The idea that it's a slam dunk and a safe seat is for the birds”. -Tom Gordon MP

This evening Lisa Nandy MP posted a photo campaigning on the doorstep with Andy Burnham to capture the support of Winstanley for Labour. As loyalties are made public and with more resignations expected as battle lines are drawn, the pressure on the PM will continue to build .

But for now, we wait.