Despite Burnham’s by-election campaign being widely seen as the mayor taking steps to challenge Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister has thrown his support behind Burnham.
Sir Keir said on Thursday he would go out campaigning in Makerfield, when asked if he would support his potential leadership rival.
He said: “Yes, and I’ve said to the whole Labour movement that I want everybody to be involved in the campaign, whatever other discussions are going on, it’s really important – that’s a straight fight between Labour and Reform.”