Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has refused to hose down speculation that he plans to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he can get back into Parliament

Labour heavyweight Andy Burnham will have a lot of eyes on him at the party conference in Liverpool, which starts this weekend.

The Greater Manchester Mayor has fuelled speculation of a leadership run – but would first have to get himself back into Parliament. The former Health Secretary is the bookies’ favourite to take over from Keir Starmer if he stands down before the next election.

He poured fuel on the fire by revealing MPs have been encouraged him to challenge the Prime Minister – as well as calling for “wholesale change”. But Mr Starmer‘s allies have dismissed talk of a challenge as “tittle tattle”.

Here we look at Mr Burnham’s position and the danger he poses to Keir Starmer.

Who is Andy Burnham?

The Mayor of Greater Manchester is a former Cabinet member who served under Gordon Brown when Labour was last in power. The 55-year-old was an MP for nearly 16 years before stepping down in 2017.

He has run for the Labour leadership twice, and hinted in an interview with the Telegraph that he still harbours an ambition to lead the party. He got his first taste of ministerial responsibility under Tony Blair before becoming Chief Secretary to the Treasury when Mr Brown became PM.

He went on to become Culture Secretary and then Health Secretary, a position he held until Labour lost the 2010 general election. In oppositon he held shadow cabinet roles under Ed Milliband and was Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow Home Secretary for a spell before stepping down.

As Greater Manchester’s Mayor he has seen his profile grow, earning the nickname ‘King of the North’ after standing up to Boris Johnson by demanding better support for the region during the Covid crisis.

Why the speculation now?

Polling looks pretty dire at the moment, with Nigel Farage’s Reform stealing a march on Labour and the Tories. This usually sets tongues wagging, especially with MPs getting disgruntled.

Mr Burnham has not explicitly said he plans to challenge Keir Starmer, but nor has he hosed down suggestions that he will. Mr Burnham set tongues wagging last week when he repeatedly refused to rule out a return to Westminster.

And two interviews with The Telegraph and the New Statesman have been widely seen as a leadership pitch.

He called for higher council tax on homes in the south and a 50p top rate of interest. Mr Burnham said there is a “huge underpayment of tax that should now be corrected” in London and the south east. When asked by The Telegraph whether anyone had encouraged him to run, the former Health Secretary said: “People have contacted me throughout the summer – yeah.

“I’m not going to say to you that that hasn’t happened, but as I say, it’s more a decision for those people than it is for me.” He insisted he is not plotting an immediate return to Parliament or wanting to step on the Government’s toes as it seeks a reset at the Labour Party conference.

But the senior Labour politician told the New Statesman that the gathering in Liverpool starting on Sunday must answer the question “where is our plan to turn the country around?” “I’m going to put the question back to people at Labour conference: are we up for that wholesale change?”

What has he said today?

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Burnham said he had given an honest answer when quizzed about support for a leadership bid.

He stated: “When I left Westminster, which is almost 10 years ago now, I took a vow not to speak in code, to answer honestly, as people say politicians don’t do.

“Well, I do try and do that. So I was asked a direct question by a journalist and I gave an honest answer. And obviously that’s been been reported today.

“MPs were in touch with me. But let me also gave an honest explanation of what I said to those MPs. It’s not up to me. It’s not my decision. That’s a matter for you, for the party in Parliament. And also I said to them, it’s got to be about more than a personality contest.”

And he continued: “I gave an honest answer and sometimes it feels to me that the Westminster world can’t deal with those answers.”

He stated: “I think all of the focus needs to be a plan to get the country back where it should be, the country functioning again because people don’t feel it is, right now.” Asked whether he was undermining Mr Starmer he said is is “ready to support the Prime Minister and the government”.

What would need to happen for him to become PM?

Firstly and most importantly, Mr Burnham would need to be an MP.

If he’s going to return to Parliament before the next general election, he would need to put himself if a seat becomes available. As mentioned above, he has not explicitly ruled this out, but his stars would need to align.

One possible route back to the Commons would be a by-election in Gorton and Denton. Labour MP Andrew Gwynne was suspended in February after leaked WhatsApp messages revealed insulting comments about constituents.

An inquiry was launched by the party, but the result is yet to be announced. But there is no indication that Mr Gwynne intends to stand aside.

Even if he does get back into Parliament, Labour Party processes for toppling a leader are tricky. Mr Burnham would need to publicly declare his challenge and have the support of 20% of Labour MPs. In the current Parliament it means he would need 80. It used to be 10%, but this was doubled in 2021.

What is the leadership saying?

It’s been very punchy among Mr Starmer’s loyalists. A Labour source said of Mr Burnham: “I’ve heard of a stalking horse, but this guy is going to get hoarse from his endless stalking.”

And there’s a brutal joke doing the rounds among Cabinet members, recounted to Sky News’ Sam Coates. It points out that Mr Burnham has been close to the last four Labour leaders – implying he lacks ideological consistency.

It goes: “A Blairite, a Brownite, a Starmerite and a Corbynite went to the pub. The barman said: ‘What do you want Andy?’

And Housing Secretary Steve Reed – a key ally of Mr Starmer – dismissed the talk of a leadership challenge as “tittle-tattle”. The Labour frontbencher told Times Radio: “I’ve seen this movie before.

“When we were in opposition, we used to hear similar things about Keir Starmer. That was before he picked this party up off the floor and led us into a record-breaking general election victory.

“Now our job is to get on and change the country.” He added: “Change is what people voted for, change is what we’re going to deliver, and I’m not going to be diverted by tittle-tattle in the papers.”

READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster

Source Notice:

This article is republished from
www.mirror.co.uk
on 2025-09-25 09:56:00.
Content and views belong to the original publisher, not UAE Today News.