Burnham, currently the mayor of Greater Manchester in north-western England, needs a seat in the national parliament before he can take part in any potential contest to replace the under-fire premier as leader of the Labour Party.
Disastrous local and regional elections earlier this month triggered a wave of manoeuvring among Starmer’s potential rivals.
Launching his campaign in the Makerfield constituency near Manchester, Burnham pledged to give voters back the Labour Party “they used to know.”
“I know my own party needs to change. We need to be better than we have been,” he said in what appeared to be a thinly veiled criticism of Starmer, who is both prime minister and Labour leader.
“This is a change by-election. Politics in this country – British politics – is tired,” Burnham added at his launch event in the local town of Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Burnham is expected to challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership if he is successful in the by-election on June 18, although he steered clear of the subject on Friday.
Starmer’s poll ratings have been nosediving for months despite winning power less than two years ago in a landslide general election.
The local ballot on May 7 saw voters give centre-left Labour an historic drubbing.
Labour lost scores of councillors to the hard-right Reform UK party and the left-wing Greens.
Starmer’s health minister Wes Streeting resigned, as did four junior ministers.
Around 90 Labour MPs have called for Starmer to quit or lay out a timetable for his departure.
Starmer’s ouster, however, remains far from certain.
More than 100 Labour lawmakers have spoken out against trying to change leader, while Starmer has been backed by most of his cabinet, highlighting divisions in the ruling party.
Josh Simons, the Labour MP for the Makerfield constituency who resigned to allow Burnham to stand, was elected at the 2024 general election with a majority of just 5,399 votes.
To win the seat Burnham will have to see off plumber Robert Kenyon, who is standing for the anti-immigrant Reform UK.
At the local council polls in Makerfield on May 7, Reform came top in all eight wards in the constituency that were up for election. (AFP)
