Keir Starmer rival wins key UK by-election which may trigger bid to oust PM

Veteran UK Labour politician Andy Burnham won a historic by-election on Friday, securing a parliamentary seat and clearing the way for a widely expected leadership challenge against beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Burnham, a former government minister who has been Greater Manchester mayor since 2017, ensured his return to parliament by emphatically beating the hard-right Reform UK party's candidate in the Makerfield constituency in northwest England.

The 56-year-old longtime figure in centre-left Labour has indicated he will challenge Starmer for the party's leadership, and to be prime minister, and needed to win the high-stakes vote to be in a position to trigger such a contest.