The latest by-election news, headlines and analysis from The NE Times.
Andy Burnham could not have run for the leadership without a Commons seat. The story of how he got one, after the NEC blocked an earlier attempt and an MP stood aside, is central to understanding this contest.
The Greater Manchester mayor is the clear favourite as voters go to the polls in a contest seen as the launchpad for a Labour leadership challenge.
Andy Burnham is seeking a return to the Commons on 18 June, and victory would clear his path to challenge the Prime Minister for the Labour leadership.
Voters in Aberdeen South and in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry go to the polls on the same day as Makerfield, in contests watched closely at Holyrood and Westminster.
The party's first northern Westminster victory pushed Labour into third place and reshaped the political map ahead of a knife-edge summer.
A by-election engineered to give Andy Burnham a seat in the Commons could prove decisive for both his ambitions and Starmer's survival.