Keir Starmer breaks silence on Andy Burnham determination as Labour anger grows
Keir Starmer said Andy Burnham is doing a “great job” as Greater Manchester mayor – but allowing him to run for a Westminster seat would “divert our resources” from Labour campaigns in May’s elections
Keir Starmer has come under fire after Andy Burnham was blocked from standing(Image: © 2026 PA Media, All Rights Reserved)
Keir Starmer has defended the decision to block Andy Burham’s route back into Parliament – saying allowing him to run would “divert our resources” from Labour campaigns.
On Sunday Mr Burnham was barred from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election, sparking anger among his supporters. The Mayor of Greater Manchester – who has long been linked with a leadership challenge – was turned down by the party’s national executive committee (NEC).
The PM said: “We have really important elections already across England for local councils, very important elections in Wales for the Government there and very important elections in Scotland for the Scottish Government that will affect millions of people. And we’re out campaigning on the cost of living and they’re very important elections.
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“We need all of our focus on those elections. Andy Burnham’s doing a great job as the mayor of Manchester, but having an election for the mayor of Manchester when it’s not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have, that we must fight and win.
“And resources, whether that’s money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don’t have to have. And that was the basis of the NEC decision.”
He went on: “Andy Burnham is doing a really great job … when I came into politics in 2015 the first thing I did was support Andy Burnham’s leadership campaign, the first team I worked in was for Andy Burnham and in the job he’s doing now, he and I work closely together.
“Last year, in sad circumstances, we had to respond together to the attack in a synagogue in Manchester, standing side by side, reassuring the community. This year with the Northern Powerhouse Rail, we’re working together to deliver something that matters to Andy Burnham, to the region, to millions of people.
“So, there’s no question of me and Andy not working very well together. He’s doing an excellent job.”
Mr Burnham told the BBC: “I am not making any comment. I’ve said what I needed to say and here I am back in my job. A full focus on my job as mayor of Greater Manchester.”
Furious Labour backbencher Kim Johnson told Times Radio on Monday morning that the PM should consider his own position. She said: “I’m really disappointed with the decision taken by a handful of NEC members today to block Andy Burnham from standing in the seat in Manchester. It is really disappointing.
“Starmer has spoken about putting country first before the party. Well, this clearly isn’t the situation. It’s really disappointing that Andy got to find out after the media were invited. This just plays into the level of factionalism that has been inherent in this party for too long and it has to stop. And Keir Starmer now needs to consider his own position as leader of this party.”
A 10-strong panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) voted to block him by 8 to 1 in a meeting that lasted less than an hour. Only Deputy Leader Lucy Powell voted in favour of letting Mr Burnham run, while the PM personally opposed it.
On Sunday Mr Burnham said he was “disappointed” by the decision and in a warning to party bosses, he said he was “concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us”. In a fiery postscript, he added: “The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days. You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something but sadly not.”
A Labour source responded: “This is categorically not true.” Mr Burnham has made no secret of his leadership ambitions, and enraged the PM’s allies by derailing Labour conference last year with a blatant pitch for the top job. But ahead of the decision, a number of Labour big beasts said he should be allowed to run, including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, former Deputy PM Angela Rayner and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Supporters of the PM believe letting Mr Burnham run would saddle the taxpayer with the cost of a mayoral by-election and risked inviting further leadership speculation at a pivotal moment
