The 2026 Labour Party leadership election was triggered by Keir Starmer's 22 June 2026 announcement that, due to the lack of confidence in his leadership by his MPs, he intended to resign as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Andy Burnham, a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown who had been the mayor of Greater Manchester and previously ran for the Labour leadership in 2010 and 2015, had been tipped since 2025 as a potential leadership challenger to Starmer, but Labour rules dictate that only MPs can stand for the leadership. Burnham was blocked from standing in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election (held on 26 February) by the party's National Executive Committee. However he stood and won the 2026 Makerfield by-election on 18 June after the constituency's MP, Josh Simons, resigned to allow Burnham to stand. Burnham's by-election victory intensified discussion of a leadership challenge; Starmer announced his resignation four days after the by-election, on the same day that Burnham was sworn in as an MP.
Nominations from MPs opened on 9 July and closed on 16 July. With 379 nominations, Burnham was the only eligible candidate when nominations closed, as he was nominated by over 94% of all Labour MPs, exceeding Gordon Brown's 88% of nominations in 2007. He was acclaimed as Leader of the Labour Party on 17 July 2026, and became Prime Minister three days later, on 20 July 2026. Burnham became the first Labour prime minister who is also a member of the Co-operative Party.
Background
Starmer leadership and premiership
Keir Starmer was elected Labour leader by winning the 2020 leadership election. His party made significant gains at the 2023 and 2024 local elections amidst a significant drop in membership in the years prior. Starmer became the fifth Labour leader to become prime minister after a general election but with the smallest share of the electoral vote of any majority government since records began in 1830.
Starmer's net approval rating began slightly positive but fell over the course of his premiership to an average of −46% by November 2025. Starmer also presided over a period of low support for Labour, with the party facing record electoral losses during the 2025 local elections. In January 2026, Andy Burnham, who had been speculated since 2025 to be planning to enter Parliament to challenge Starmer's leadership, attempted to stand to be the Labour Party candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election but was blocked from standing by the party's National Executive Committee. In February, Anas Sarwar, the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, called for Starmer to resign as party leader amid the Peter Mandelson appointment scandal.
2026 local elections
In the May 2026 UK local elections, the Labour Party lost control of over half of the councils up for election. Labour also lost over 1,400 councillors, which BBC News reported as the single largest loss of councillors Labour had had in a single local election. Reform UK and the Green Party made their highest gains ever.
At the same time, Labour suffered a historic defeat in the 2026 Senedd election, failing to win either an outright majority or plurality in the Senedd for the first time in its history, losing to Plaid Cymru. In the 2026 Scottish Parliament election as well, the Labour Party failed to make expected gains, coming in joint-second with Reform UK in terms of MSPs.
On 9 May, Labour MP Catherine West issued an ultimatum for a leadership challenger to Starmer to step forward by 11 May or that West would put herself forward as a candidate. West said her preferred option was that someone already in the cabinet become leader, with Starmer "given a different role". That same day, around Labour 30 MPs had either directly called for Keir Starmer to resign, or for him to set out a timetable on his departure. On 11 May, no candidate had been put forward, and West refused herself to stand as a challenger.
By 11 May's evening, 70 MPs had called for Starmer to resign. On 13 May, allies of Health Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC News that they expected him to resign and launch a leadership bid as soon as tomorrow. A spokesperson for Streeting stated that he would not do anything to "distract" from the State Opening of Parliament. In a meeting with MPs later in the evening, Starmer vowed to fight a leadership challenge if the health secretary ran. Cabinet ministers loyal to Starmer attempted to convince colleagues that a change in leadership would paralyse the government and cause chaos.
On 13 May, Starmer said to The Observer that he wanted to be in office for ten years and would stand in a possible leadership contest. Starmer's position rapidly deteriorated on 14 May. Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was cleared by the HM Revenue and Customs over her tax scandal, which was viewed as paving the way for her to join a leadership race. Streeting announced his resignation at 1:00pm GMT, stating that he had lost confidence in Starmer's government. Al Carns was reported by Sky News to be interested in a leadership challenge.
Return of Burnham to Parliament
On 14 May, Josh Simons, the Labour member for Makerfield, resigned his seat in parliament, paving the way for Burnham to contest the by-election and so to stand for the Labour leadership, in accordance with party rules that require any candidate for leader to be a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Whilst Burnham had previously been blocked from standing in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election in February 2026 by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party (NEC), they did not block his candidacy for the Makerfield by-election.
On 16 May, Wes Streeting stated he would stand in a leadership election, should there be one, but that he only supported having a "proper contest" to give Burnham time to return to Parliament and be eligible to stand, thus delaying any leadership contest until June.
The 2026 Makerfield by-election was held on 18 June, with Burnham exceeding expectations to win the by-election with a large majority of over 9,000 votes. Burnham gained the support of over 200 Labour MPs by 20 June. The Guardian reported on 20 June that a Burnham leadership campaign was inevitable and that his allies were confident that Burnham would be elected uncontested, though some Labour MPs still wanted a contested leadership race.
Starmer announced his intention to resign on 22 June 2026, four days after the by-election.
Timeline
- 22 June – Sir Keir Starmer announces his resignation as Leader of the Labour Party
- 9 July – PLP nominations open
- 15 July – PLP nominations close and affiliate nominations open
- 16 July – Affiliate nominations close
- 17 July – Result announced at Special Conference
- 20 July – Sir Keir Starmer resigns as Prime Minister. Andy Burnham is asked by King Charles III to form a new government.
Candidates
Under the Labour Party's rules, for a leadership contender to be on the ballot, they must be nominated by at least 20% of the Parliamentary Labour Party, meaning 81 MPs would be required.
Burnham was the first to announce his candidacy for the leadership contest after Starmer's resignation announcement, stating he "will put [himself] forward as part of this process." Wes Streeting and Al Carns, who were both seen as potential candidates, endorsed Burnham.
While not formally putting herself forward for the leadership position, Catherine West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, was nominated by Neil Coyle after nominations had opened. This occurred after it was already mathematically impossible for a candidate other than Burnham to reach the required level of 81 MPs.
Declined
- Al Carns, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (2025–2026) (endorsed Burnham)
- Darren Jones, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (2025–2026) (endorsed Burnham)
- David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2025–2026) (endorsed Burnham)
- Wes Streeting, former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2024–2026) (endorsed Burnham)
Nominations
Burnham received 322 nominations on the day nominations opened, one short of the 323 that would mean no other candidate could receive enough nominations to challenge him. By convention, the outgoing party leader (Starmer), NEC chair (Shabana Mahmood) and party chair (Anna Turley) did not nominate anyone.
By 13 July he had received 349 PLP nominations, rising to 379 by 15 July. After the deadline had passed, Burnham was the only remaining candidate, and secured the nominations of 23 Labour Party affiliates; as there were no other eligible candidates by the affiliate deadline, Burnham was declared Leader of the Labour Party at a special party conference on 17th July.