Could ‘king in the north’ become Britain’s new prime minister?

Makerfield victory gives Andy Burnham a path back to Westminster and a chance to challenge Keir Starmer

• Celebrations and a swift exit after a Burnham win beyond our wildest dreams'

We know no king but the King in the North", declares the young Lady Lyanna Mormont in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. In the early hours of Friday morning, in a nondescript conference hall in the north of England, it appeared that the electorate agreed.

About 70,000 voters in a post-industrial region of north-west England may have changed the face of British politics this week, after electing the charismatic Labour politician Andy Burnham to represent them in London.