Keir Starmer might face imminent management battle as rival’s path to prime job is cleared
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a growing threat from the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham as the northerner finally has a path to mount a leadership challenge
Keir Starmer is facing down a party rival(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Keir Starmer’s tenure as Prime Minister is under threat as his Labour rival Andy Burnham finally has a path to Number 10.
Mayor of Greater Manchester needs to return to the House of Commons before he can mount a leadership bid against his party leader. A by-election is now expected after suspended Labour MP Andrew Gwynne confirmed he was stepping down from his Gorton and Denton constituency, citing health reasons.
Burnham, who is seen as an alternative to Starmer within Labour, could enter the by-election, which is in Greater Manchester, and return to the House of Commons if he wins. Labour won the last election in the Gorton and Denton constituency by a majority of 13,000.
The 56-year-old mayor has said he was “in the dark” about Gwynne stepping down. He did not rule out standing in the by-election but added that he was “very focused on my role as mayor of Greater Manchester”.
The bookies now have Burnham as the favourite to replace Starmer in the top job. Having been a 7/1 shot earlier on Thursday, Ladbrokes now make Burnham just 7/2 to take over from Starmer – meaning he’s leapfrogged both Wes Streeting (9/2) and Angela Rayner (11/2) in the betting.
Starmer is now just 8/13 to be replaced as Labour leader before the end of 2026.
In a post on Facebook confirming his resignation, Andrew Gwynne wrote: “It has been the honour of my life to have been an elected representative for almost exactly three decades, representing my home community firstly as a Denton West Councillor on Tameside Council and then in the House of Commons as MP for Denton and Reddish and more recently for Gorton and Denton.
“Over those years I haven’t got everything right and I’ve certainly made mistakes, but I’ve always tried my very best and I have helped tens of thousands of constituents with their issues along the way.
“Indeed it’s been helping people that’s given me the greatest pleasure in these jobs.” Mr Gwynne said he had “suffered significant ill-health over most of the 21 years I’ve served as an MP”, which had been “greatly exacerbated by the impact of last year’s events regarding leaked text messages”.
He shared a message from his GP about his ongoing health problems which read: “I do not think that he will be able to safely return to work as an MP.”Mr Gwynne added: “I have therefore applied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to seek the office of Crown Steward of the Manor of Northstead, an archaic procedure to be able to vacate my seat as an MP.
“There will be a by-election soon and I wish my successor, whoever it is, all the very best in representing what I consider to be the best constituency in the UK.”
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