MP Josh Simons has announced he will step down from his Makerfield seat to allow Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to run for Parliament, citing a Labour Party "imploding" under internal strife.
In an interview with BBC Radio Manchester, Simons described the decision as "the most difficult of my life" and said it was a family choice made over the past few days.
"We were heading for a leadership election with the Labour Party split into different factions, and there was no hope, no energy that anything would change," Simons said. He added that Makerfield is "where Andy Burnham has lived for 25 years" and called it a homecoming.
Simons' resignation comes as Labour MPs push for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to set a resignation timetable after poor local election results. Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the government the same day, signalling leadership ambitions, while former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced the end of a tax investigation.
Burnham, metro mayor since 2017, needs a Commons seat to lead the party. Simons acknowledged the challenge: "It's gonna be a really, really, really tough fight. That's the truth." He did not reveal any future job plans, dismissing rumours of a mayoral bid, and said he will focus on his family, including his three-week-old son, and supporting the upcoming by-election.