Greater ⁠Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham seeks a return to parliament, among the best options to challenge Starmer.

Britain’s ‌governing Labour Party has agreed to ⁠let Greater ⁠Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham seek a return to parliament, a step towards a possible challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ⁠leadership.

The prospect of a challenge from the left-leaning Burnham has deepened the crisis for Starmer, whose party suffered heavy losses in ⁠local elections last week. It has also unnerved investors, as Britain’s borrowing costs jumped on Friday by the most in over a year.

Starmer, who has been dogged by controversy over the appointment of Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, as well as frustrations with slow-moving domestic policy changes, has so far refused calls to resign.

But more than 80 MPs have urged him to quit, while four junior ministers have stepped down. Some Labour politicians appear to be rallying around Burnham.

Wes Streeting, a main Starmer rival who announced his resignation as health secretary on Thursday, publicly backed Burnham earlier on Friday.

“We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them,” Streeting wrote on X. “Andy is the best chance of winning, and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person.”

On Thursday, Labour MP Josh Simons resigned from ⁠his seat so that Burnham could seek election to ‌parliament, which is necessary if he is to challenge Starmer for the party leadership and replace him as prime minister.

Burnham sought the permission of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which selects party candidates, to stand in the by-election.

A party spokesperson said the NEC had “today given permission to Andy Burnham to stand in the candidate ⁠selection process in the forthcoming by-election for the ⁠Makerfield constituency”, reported the Reuters news agency.

Burnham has said he wants to “change Labour for the better” but has stopped short of explicitly saying he will challenge Starmer, though dozens of MPs favour him as the prime minister’s successor.

Special election

Earlier this ⁠year, the NEC blocked Burnham from running ⁠for a different seat in Greater Manchester, a move decried by the left of the party as an attempt by Starmer and his allies to block a rival.

Friday’s ‌decision means Burnham will not be blocked again in a similar manner by Labour, although he has not yet been formally confirmed ‌as ‌its candidate.

A by-election would be held next month at the earliest.

It is likely to be a close race with Reform UK, the populist right-wing party led by Nigel Farage. He has pledged to “throw absolutely everything” at the contest.

If he became an MP, Burnham would then need to gather support from 81 Labour MPs, or 20 percent of the party in parliament, to launch a challenge against Starmer.

Any other contender would need the same numbers to join the race, while Starmer would automatically be allowed to defend his position.

Another potential challenger, Angela Rayner, said on Thursday that tax authorities had cleared her of wrongdoing following an investigation into her tax affairs, which had been viewed as a hurdle to a leadership bid.

The Guardian newspaper reported on Friday that the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, had thrown her support behind Burnham.

“I fully support him wanting to come back to parliament again,” she said, adding there would be “absolutely no attempt to stop” him.

And a major trade union, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, announced its endorsement of Burnham’s bid.