Andy Burnham hopes to show he can consolidate the left-of-centre vote, strengthening his efforts to take on a British right now split between Reform UK and the Conservatives. (EPA Images pic)

LONDON: Andy Burnham needs to win over voters like tech worker Dani Arbid in a by-election on Thursday if he is to fend off a national threat to his Labour Party from the Greens — and the early signs are encouraging for Britain's new prime minister.

The vote for a parliamentary seat in the inner London electoral district of Holborn and St Pancras, made vacant by the resignation of former prime minister Keir Starmer, is a first test of whether Burnham can restore voters' faith in Labour, which saw its popularity among left-wing voters plunge over the war in Gaza.