Labour rebels plotting to topple Sir Keir Starmer say they are on the brink of a major breakthrough.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is poised to secure a deal to fight a by-election to return to the Commons and mount a leadership challenge, his allies have told The Mail on Sunday.
Mr Burnham has made little secret of his ambition to take the top job, and now his Commons allies say they have found a seat which is ‘likely to come free’ in the coming months – and which the so-called King Of The North should win, polls suggest.
Strategists working for the Prime Minister’s arch rival have drawn up a shortlist of potential target seats in the North West, including the Greater Manchester seat currently held by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne.
Mr Gwynne denies he plans to stand down to allow Mr Burnham to run in his seat. But he has been suspended from the Labour Party since February following The Mail on Sunday’s revelations that he sent racist and sexist WhatsApp messages – and is not expected to resume his Westminster career.
On Saturday, a Labour MP who backs Mr Burnham said: ‘It’s happening. We are on the brink of securing a seat which is likely to come free shortly and where the polls say Andy would beat Reform.’
The claim comes amid mounting pressure on Sir Keir. With Labour languishing in the polls, both Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner, the former Deputy Prime Minister, are rumoured to be preparing challenges for his job.
Under the Burnham leadership plan, the mayor would apply for selection in a seat made vacant for him, with the by-election held on or before the elections for local councils and devolved parliaments in May.
Sir Keir Starmer’s (pictured) premiership is under threat once again from Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham
Burnham (right) has made little secret of his ambition to take the top job from Sir Keir (left). Pictured: The pair conversing during Starmer’s meeting with English regional mayors at No 10 Downing Street in July 2024
Strategists working for the Prime Minister’s arch rival have drawn up a shortlist of potential target seats in the North West, including the Greater Manchester seat currently held by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne (pictured)
Those elections are expected to be so disastrous for the party that Sir Keir is likely to face a challenge to his leadership within weeks.
The Prime Minister could block Mr Burnham’s selection through the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) but to do so would be seen as a humiliating admission of weakness.
One Labour insider said that given the crisis the party would be in by then, it would be impossible to stop a potentially popular replacement for Sir Keir standing in a by-election.
Former Cabinet Minister Mr Burnham’s ambitions suffered a setback in September when he angered colleagues by disclosing that some MPs had already asked him to stand for leader.
But his chances were boosted a few weeks later with the election of his ally, Lucy Powell, as the party’s deputy leader.
On Saturday, Manchester Central MP Ms Powell urged the party to unite behind Sir Keir ahead of May’s elections – a move that was seen as a shot across the bows of Mr Streeting.
Only last week, the Health Secretary was accused of undermining the PM by using an interview with the New Statesman magazine to criticise the ‘technocratic approach’ of the Government, which he likened to a ‘maintenance department’.
Ms Powell on Saturday agreed with Mr Streeting that the Government had ‘a big repair job to do’ but urged the party to ‘come together’ behind Sir Keir.
She said: ‘Sharing our message is made all the harder when we hang out our dirty washing for all to see.’
Burnham’s allies say they have found a seat which is ‘likely to come free’ in the coming months
Some MPs say Mr Streeting is stepping up his agitation in an attempt to force a contest before Mr Burnham can secure a seat.
But critics of the mayor claim it is Mr Burnham who now feels the need to catch up with Mr Streeting, who has been securing favourable media coverage.
One Labour MP said: ‘In the last few weeks, Andy’s been losing the ‘air war’ to Wes.’
Meanwhile Ms Rayner is understood to be in regular contact with Mr Burnham’s camp, with colleagues predicting she is likely to form a joint ticket with him if he becomes an MP.
She is also backing a growing rebellion against Labour’s plans to reduce jury trials, with her allies saying that she fears Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would ‘weaponise’ the reforms against the Government.
Mr Streeting – whose allies have been unsuccessfully wooing Ms Rayner to join his campaign – could instead link up with another leadership contender, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Mr Burnham’s calculations are complicated by the fact Reform UK is enjoying a surge in support in the North and would pose a dire threat to any seat he fought.
Mr Farage has claimed that Mr Burnham risks humiliation if he tries to fight a ‘leadership by-election’ because Reform would turn it into an ‘epic battle’.
Angela Rayner (left) is understood to be in regular contact with Mr Burnham’s camp, with colleagues predicting she is likely to form a joint ticket with him if he becomes an MP
Labour also privately fears that if Mr Burnham resigned as mayor to fight a by-election, Reform would win the mayoralty too.
Under Labour’s rules, the NEC – currently majority-controlled by Sir Keir’s supporters – would set up a three-strong panel to vet potential by-election candidates. It would draw up a longlist before putting two or three names before the local constituency members.
On Saturday, one senior Labour source said: ‘Why on Earth would we let Andy through? How would it help the Labour Party to allow someone who’s been mouthing off about standing against the party leader to be the candidate?’
Mr Gwynne apologised last year after this paper revealed how he had sent offensive WhatsApp group messages which included joking about how he hoped a pensioner who didn’t vote Labour would die before the next election.
The Gorton and Denton MP, who is still under investigation by the Commons standards commissioner, insisted on Saturday he wanted to serve out his full term.
Meanwhile, the Labour MP who backed Mr Burnham added: ‘No 10 must know what is going on – at least they should if the Whips are doing their job. I expect that is why they have been briefing that Starmer will fight any challenge. They are clearly rattled’.
On Saturday, Mr Burnham declined to comment.
Was it really a call for unity, Lucy?
by Gabriel Millard-Clothier
When Lucy Powell took to the airwaves on Saturday to call for party unity, she presented it as a drive to see off the threat posed by Reform in May’s elections.
But a friend explained the real reason: ‘She was telling Wes Streeting to put a sock in it.’
Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell says her party have a ‘big repair job to do’ and ‘have got to get their act together’ and unite behind Sir Keir Starmer to beat Reform
Ms Powell is an ally of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is plotting to oust Sir Keir Starmer as party leader – a job the Health Secretary also has in his sights.
The friend said: ‘When Lucy said we should unify, what she meant was that Wes should stop agitating for the job. And that we should all just wait for Andy to get his act together.’
During her media blitz – in the wake of Mr Streeting’s veiled barb at the Prime Minister as a ‘maintenance’ man – Ms Powell demanded fellow MPs put aside their ‘own personal political fortunes’ and back Sir Keir ‘because of what we fear may come if Labour does not succeed’.
‘We’ve got to get behind Keir and this Labour Government,’ she said in response to party division, fuelled by poor poll figures.
Ms Powell has a Manchester seat and is a long-term ally of Mr Burnham. Her victory in Labour’s deputy leadership election in October was seen as a victory for the mayor, who had campaigned for her.