A York MP has hailed Andy Burnham’s Westminster election bid as a “campaign of hope” that “could shape the future of the Labour party and our country”.
Rachael Maskell has joined other York Labour politicians in campaigning for the current Greater Manchester mayor in the Makerfield by-election.
Voters in the constituency, in the suburbs of Wigan, go to the polls on Thursday (June 16) for the by-election which could pave the way for Mr Burnham launching a Labour leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.
Ms Maskell said she would back Mr Burnham for the prime minister job, after previously saying Sir Keir “cannot continue” to lead Labour after the party’s disastrous local election results last month.
The Labour MP for York Central said Mr Burnham’s “campaign of hope in Makerfield is resonating with people right across the country”.
If elected, Mr Burnham has signalled he could bring in a 10-year plan to renationalise the water industry, saying reform is needed to put the public interest first.
Ms Maskell said this was among the policies that had struck a chord with voters.
“From public ownership of our key utilities to a clear rejection of 'trickle-down economics' that has let so many of our communities down, left behind and wanting genuine change,” Ms Maskell said.
"It's been an energetic campaign, a crucial by-election that could shape the future of the Labour Party and our country."
Meanwhile, Labour's York Outer MP Luke Charters, who last month resigned as a ministerial aide calling on the government to be "bolder", has also shown his support for Mr Burnham.
Mr Charters, speaking to The Press last month, said: “If Andy can secure Makerfield, it will be used as a blueprint for how we do it everywhere else in the next general election.
“I have not called for the prime minister to resign, but equally I would say that I have seen a lot from Andy – he speaks from the heart and with authenticity.”
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Mr Charters said that the government needed Mr Burnham in Westminster but admitted the by-election would not be a “walk in the park”.
Mr Burnham is the favourite to win the by-election in the Greater Manchester constituency this week, multiple opinion polls have suggested.
His nearest challenger is Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon, though Nigel Farage’s political outfit is worried about losing voters to Restore Britain, a party which positions itself as more hard line than Reform on migration and other issues.
Mr Charters said “seeing Reform and Farage get the keys to Number 10 is a scary prospect”, adding that his Labour peers had asked him, “how do we stop that from happening?”
“If we can win Makerfield, maybe it could turn the tide,” Mr Charters said.
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