Labour's Andy Burnham wins important by-election in Makerfield

The Labour mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham has won a seat in parliament and become an MP, after winning the Makerfield by-election.

This means that he is now able to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his job and for the role of Labour leader - something that he is widely expected to do.

The results of two Westminster by-elections in Scotland have also been declared.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) held onto Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, but they were beaten in Aberdeen South by the Scottish Conservatives.

Keep reading to find out more about each by-election and why Andy Burnham's victory could put pressure on the Prime Minister and his job.

Andy Burnham was elected MP for Makerfield after winning 55% of the vote.

He beat Reform UK, the party that finished in second place, by around 9,000 votes.

In his victory speech, Burnham urged his party to act now, saying there would be no second chance.

He said: "Everyone knows that politics isn't working.

"Everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point."

He added that this was a result that could "bring about a country that works for everybody."

On Friday morning, the prime minister congratulated Burnham on his win on social media, writing: "Voters chose Labour's campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate."

Now that Andy Burnham is an MP, he can not continue in his role as mayor of Greater Manchester.

An election to replace him is expected to take place on 30 July.

A lot of people have been talking about Andy Burnham recently.

He used to be a Member of Parliament (MP), and served in government as Health Secretary.

He previously tried to become leader of the Labour Party twice, but was beaten both times.

After some poor election results in England, Scotland and Wales last month, some people in the Labour Party, which Sir Keir Starmer leads, have said the Prime Minister needs to step down.

Mr Starmer has not done that yet, and has said he plans to continue as leader of the Labour party and Prime Minister until the next election.

However, that's not stopped people calling for him to go, and Andy Burnham is one of the names that has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Mr Starmer.

However, since 2017, Burnham had been the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

This means that he was unable to challenge Mr Starmer, because in order to be Labour leader, a person needs to be an MP - which Burnham wasn't at this time.

Now that he is no longer Mayor - and is the new MP for Makerfield instead - that could all change.

So will Burnham be the next prime minister and next leader of the Labour party?

That's something we don't know at the moment.

Both Burnham and former health secretary Wes Streeting have previously said they would stand in any leadership contest to replace the PM.

Streeting had even suggested that he would be prepared to start a leadership contest to replace Mr Starmer as early as next week.

Now that Burnham has been elected as the new MP for Makerfield, he is widely expected to make his bid for the Labour leadership and the job of prime minister.

But as of yet, no challenge to the Prime Minister has been made.

Two by-elections also took place in Scotland - one in Aberdeen South, and the other in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.

Both seats had been held by the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Both Scottish by-elections were held after sitting MPs - Stephen Flynn and his SNP colleague Stephen Gethins - resigned from the House of Commons after being elected to the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood.

In Aberdeen South, the Scottish Conservatives won the seat from the SNP, after their candidate Douglas Lumsden, was elected as the new MP.

It was the party's first win in a Westminster by-election for more than 50 years.

In Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, the SNP kept the seat.

Their candidate, Lara Bird, won the by-election and will become the area's new MP.

The UK is divided into areas known as constituencies and each is represented by a member of parliament, or MP.

MPs need to be chosen by the people in their constituency, usually in a general election.

But when an MP stands down or is unable to carry on in their job, a mini election is needed in that area to fairly choose a new MP.

Any party is allowed to stand for election in a by-election.