Andy Burnham promised to shake up “tired” British politics as he launched his campaign to return to Westminster and potentially challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the keys to No 10.
The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester is seeking to win the Makerfield seat in a “change” by-election.
Allies of Mr Burnham have suggested he may not launch a bid for the party leadership immediately if he is successful in his attempt to return to Parliament in the June 18 contest.
But he is widely viewed as Sir Keir’s main rival for the top job if he wins the by-election.
Mr Burnham said: “This is not more of the same.
“This is a change by-election. Politics in this country, British politics, is tired.
“It needs a new script and over the next four weeks the people of Makerfield are going to write that script, and it’s great that they’re going to get that chance.”
In an apparent criticism of Sir Keir’s leadership, Mr Burnham said: “I know my own party needs to change. We need to be better than we have been.
“A vote for me in this by-election is a vote to change Labour.”
He said the voters of Makerfield would get “the party back they used to know”.
Under Sir Keir, Labour suffered a devastating series of setbacks in elections in England, Wales and Scotland earlier in May, triggering a wave of speculation around his position.
Pollsters have signalled that having Mr Burnham running will significantly boost Labour’s chances of retaining the seat, but it could still prove a tough contest against Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Josh Simons, the Labour MP who stood down to make way for Mr Burnham, won in 2024 by just 5,399 votes while Reform comfortably won every ward in the constituency at this month’s local elections.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats unveiled Stockport councillor Jake Austin as their candidate to contest the seat.
Mr Austin said the people of Makerfield “deserve so much more than the failing Labour Government or the divisive politics of Reform UK”.
On Thursday, the Green Party announced that its candidate, Chris Kennedy, had withdrawn from the race just hours after he had been selected.
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The party said Mr Kennedy had withdrawn for “personal and family reasons”, but it later emerged that he had shared posts on social media claiming an attack on Jewish ambulances in north London had been a “false flag” operation.
A Green spokesperson said Mr Kennedy had deleted and apologised for the posts, but added the party stood by its previous statement about the reasons for his withdrawal.