Josh Simons, the Labour MP for Makerfield, is bowing out of Parliament to let Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham take a swing at becoming prime minister, because apparently the Labour Party imploding is the ideal backdrop for a leadership shakeup.
Simons told BBC Radio Manchester that stepping aside after just two years as an MP was the "most difficult decision of my life" - which says a lot given the party's current state of affairs. He won the seat by 5,399 votes in the last election, with Reform UK's Robert Kenyon nipping at his heels in second place. The 32-year-old father of three said he and his wife decided as a family, which probably involved a lot of coffee and a calendar.
"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 explained, painting a picture of a party that's less a political machine and more a reality show waiting for its next twist.
Burnham, who has been metro mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, needs to be an MP to lead the party. Simons said Makerfield is where Burnham has lived for 25 years, making it a "coming home" scenario. The by-election is expected to be a tough fight, especially since Reform swept the area in last week's local elections. Simons acknowledged, "It's gonna be a really, really, really tough fight," which is the kind of honesty that makes political strategists wince.
Simons' decision came amid growing calls for Sir Keir Starmer to set a resignation timeline after Labour's disastrous local election showing. Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the government on Thursday, signaling his own ambitions, while former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced her tax investigation by HMRC was over. The party is clearly not short on drama.
Simons insisted he wasn't promised any new job for stepping aside, shooting down rumors he'd run for mayor of Manchester. "The first thing I'm going to do is spend some time with my three-week-old son," he said, because nothing says "political chaos" like a newborn and a by-election. He added he'll be helping to win the by-election, though he admitted he doesn't know what will happen. Sometimes, taking a risk is the only way to change the story, even if the ending is uncertain.