Josh Simons

Burnham was elected Labour leader unopposed –– which meant a coronation rather than a conventional contest –– as nearly 90% of his party’s MPs rallied behind him, leaving no scope of another candidate

But, as Starmer’s political capital has eroded ever further, he could do nothing when Burnham’s ally Josh Simons resigned his seat in the Makerfield constituency last month

Andy Burnham has launched a scathing attack on "profiteering" water companies, demanding United Utilities cancel its final dividend payment to shareholders in August

Josh Simons, later a minister, was Labour Together’s director when he commissioned an investigation in 2023 into the source of stories about £740,000 undeclared donations made to the thinktank when it was previously run by McSweeney

Burnham tells Makerfield voters in video: I’ll reverse Thatcher’s legacy

Local plumber Robert Kenyon will stand for Nigel Farage's party in the crunch ballot

Wes Streeting gave his first speech since resigning as health secretary on Saturday

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration is embroiled in turmoil amid a calamitous local election result for the Labour Party last week

This appeared to be a coded way of saying any future leadership contest should include other contenders such as Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who is currently blocked from running as he is not an MP

Guardian columnist Rafael Behr talks through a frantic day that started with Wes Streeting’s resignation as health secretary and ended with the very real possibility of his rival — Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham — returning to parliament

Ed Miliband to approve first major North Sea gasfield project in decade

Labour Together paid Washington-based PR firm APCO Worldwide at least £30,000 for the research ahead of the 2024 election

Labour MP Josh Simons has resigned as a Cabinet Office minister following an investigation into allegations a think tank he led before entering Government commissioned a probe into journalists

UK’s Starmer Refers Minister to Ethics Adviser Over Smear Claims

Josh Simons is facing a Cabinet Office investigation over a controversial probe he ordered into a damaging newspaper article while in charge of think-tank Labour Together

Now McSweeney is out of a job, Labour Together is mired in controversy and Starmer faces urgent questions about what he knew and when

An investigation is being launched into claims a campaign group closely aligned with Labour hired lobbyists to investigate journalists

Labour Together paid APCO Worldwide at least £30,000 to "investigate the sourcing, funding and origins" of a story about undeclared donations at the think tank before the general election

Cabinet office minister Josh Simons was chief executive of the pro-Starmer think-tank Labour Together and in 2023 commissioned APCO Worldwide to try and identify how reporters had uncovered information about the group's funding

Starmer has declared confidence in McSweeney twice this week, as the storm over the Jeffrey Epstein-linked Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador in Washington engulfs them all

The idea of expansion to children at birth has previously been raised by ministers, and has now reportedly been discussed in secret meetings held by Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons