Josh Simons stood down for Burnham as Labour was 'imploding'

Josh Simons stood down for Burnham as Labour was 'imploding'57 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GooglePaul BurnellNorth WestUK Parliament via PA MediaJosh Simons is a former government junior ministerThe MP who will step down to allow Andy Burnham a chance to challenge the prime minister has said it "was too big an opportunity to miss".Josh Simons, the Makerfield Labour MP, told BBC Radio Manchester the Labour Party had been "imploding" over the last week. On Thursday, Simons announced his intention to give up his seat in the Commons, allowing the Greater Manchester mayor to put himself forward as a parliamentary candidate.He won the seat by 5,399 votes at the last election, with Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon coming in second. The 32-year-old father-of-three, who has only been an MP for two years, said stepping aside was the "most difficult decision of my life".Simons said: "It was a decision I took with my wife. We decided as a family."We've been speaking about this for a few days. It's been incredibly fast, if I'm honest.He added: "We were heading for a leadership election with the Labour Party split into different factions, and there was no hope, no energy that anything would change…"He said that Makerfield was "where Andy Burnham has lived for 25 years" and that he was "coming home"."Labour needs to change and the whole government needs to change," he said.PA MediaBurnham has been mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017Simons' decision came as Labour MPs began calling for Sir Keir Starmer to set a timetable to quit his job following Labour's disastrous showing in the local elections last week and growing backbench discontentment with his leadership.On Thursday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the government, signalling a future intentions to challenge Starmer on the same day another possible candidate, former deputy prime mini...