The Greater Manchester Mayor has long been linked with a return to Westminster, and at Labour party conference repeatedly refused to answer if he hoped to be Prime Minister or Labour leader
A Labour MP has claimed he would give up his seat for Andy Burnham to re-join the Commons.
The Greater Manchester Mayor has long been linked with a return to Westminster, and at Labour party conference repeatedly refused to answer if he hoped to be Prime Minister or Labour leader.
Now Mr Lewis, who last week suggested the PM should stand down, has claimed he would put “party before personal ambition” while discussing who he hoped could replace Keir Starmer.
READ MORE: Andy Burnham pleads with Keir Starmer to scrap two-child benefit limit – ‘no moral basis’READ MORE: Andy Burnham drops ‘wealth tax’ bombshell with another huge demand
Speaking on Politics Live on BBC Two about a potential Labour leadership election, the Norwich South MP said: “Whoever came in next, and this is speculation, we saw that with the Conservatives, the democratic legitimacy of the person that comes in next, after Boris Johnson, is reduced, I mean it was Liz Truss, because they haven’t won an election, it becomes difficult. I know exactly the problems that we face…we’re in a quandary, it feels like we are in checkmate, it’s hard to see a way out of it.”
Asked by the host Vicki Young whether Andy Burnham could be up for the job, Mr Lewis replied “you’d have to ask Andy Burnham” before confirming the pair had spoken.
Pushed on whether he’d stand aside for him, Mr Lewis said: “it’s a question I’ve asked myself, and I’d have to obviously consult with my wife as well and family, but do you know what, if I’m going to sit here and say country before party, party before personal ambition, then yes, I have to say yes, don’t I”.
Asked “so, you’d give up your seat to Andy Burnham”, Mr Lewis stated: “I would yes”.
Mr Lewis had previously called for Mr Burnham to return to the parliamentary Labour Party and “step up and become the next prime minister”.
Speaking last week, Mr Lewis had claimed the current situation with the PM was “not tenable”, following a bitter row that saw the Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused of a coup.
He said: “I just don’t see how this can stagger on without any resolution on the horizon.
“I think the Labour Party, the Labour grandees, the men in grey suits, need to now really seriously think, how do we get Andy Burnham back into this parliamentary Labour Party and let him step up and become the next prime minister?
“That’s my personal view. I know it won’t be shared by everyone, but I don’t see many other options.”