Andy Burnham's Makerfield by-election bid backed by Steve Reed as he calls for ballot to take place 'as quickly as possible'

Andy Burnham's bid to stand in the Makerfield by-election has been backed by Steve Reed, as he set out a timetable for when the election should take place.

Speaking to GB News, the Housing Secretary delivered his verdict on Mr Burnham's decision and threw his support behind the Greater Manchester Mayor.

Questioned by host Stephen Dixon on whether he believes Mr Burnham should be allowed to stand in Makerfield, Mr Reed told GB News: "Yes, I think he should."

Pressed on how likely he thinks the bid will be approved by the NEC (National Executive Committee), the Housing Secretary made clear: "I don't know what will happen.

"I'm not on the NEC and the NEC take the decisions about somebody who wants to stand down from an existing job if they want to run for a different job in politics, as Andy wants to do.

"So they have to give permission for that because it would trigger a by-election. But to be honest, I don't know most of the people on the NEC, so I can't tell you what they will do."

Mr Reed assured that in the end, it would be the "public who will choose who they want to be their next MP".

He said: "It would be none of us that take that decision in the end, it would be Labour Party members in Maccafield who choose their own candidate.

"And then they go forward for an election where the public will choose who they want to be their next MP."

Grilled by host Ellie Costello, the Housing Secretary was pressed on whether he believes that Andy Burnham "is the answer to Labour's problems".

He responded: "I think you have to take a view that what's going on is that the Prime Minister of the day crystallises the public's frustration of the state of our economy, the state of our high streets and the state of our public services.

"So the way to fix it is to make sure that we deliver the change the public wants to see, so more money in people's pockets.

"We saw from the Conservatives, if you just keep chopping and changing the Prime Minister, it doesn't actually solve the problems that are making them unpopular.

"We've got to get the economy and public services fixed so that they work for the British people."

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Highlighting that the by-election could be "pushed back until after summer recess", Mr Reed was asked by Stephen when he believes the by-election should take place.

He told GB News: "My view is always that when there are by-elections, they're best done as quickly as possible because the people in Makerfield are not being represented in Parliament for the whole time that we wait.

"Their sitting MP Josh Simons has stood down, so he can't come to Parliament and speak for them anymore, and it's important that they have a voice just like everybody else in the country."

The Housing Secretary stated: "So my preference would be for a timetable as fast as it can be done."

Noting the resignation of ex-Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Mr Reed was asked for his reaction to Mr Streeting's departure from Cabinet.

He told GB News: "I'm going to be frank with you again here, I had quite mixed emotions. First of all, I felt very sad that Wes had decided to stand down.

"I've known Wes personally since before both of us were members of Parliament, and I think he's an incredibly talented individual and a politician who makes a really big impact.

"We saw that in the figures yesterday that showed the biggest fall in NHS waiting lists for 18 years, so I'm sorry that Wes decided to walk away when he and the Government were delivering a big, big change like that."