The northern English area of Makerfield is voting in a by-election that could return Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to parliament, paving the way for him to launch a bid to take over as prime minister.
The election, triggered by a party colleague resigning his seat, has brought unusual attention to the former coalmining area near Manchester as its result will determine the shape of an inevitable challenge to the deeply unpopular Keir Starmer.
If Burnham defeats the candidate for Reform UK, Brexit advocate Nigel Farage's populist party, his victory on Thursday will fire the starting gun on a race to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party, a contest that could give Britain its seventh prime minister in just more than a decade.
