Allies of Andy Burnham have warned against a rapid succession from Keir Starmer to Wes Streeting as prime minister, urging Labour's ruling body to allow the Greater Manchester mayor to contest a parliamentary byelection. As mounting calls for Starmer's resignation intensify, sources close to Burnham demand immediate assurances from Labour's national executive committee (NEC) that he will not be blocked from seeking a seat in the House of Commons.
Burnham's Path to Westminster Faces Obstacles
However, Burnham's hopes suffered a setback when Marie Rimmer, the MP for St Helens South and Whiston, stated she would not step down and backed Starmer to remain in office. Rimmer, 78, said she had not spoken to Burnham in years and dismissed speculation about her seat. "I'm not planning to stand down for anybody," she declared, adding that the Labour party should avoid the chaos of a leadership contest.
Despite Rimmer's denial, Burnham's allies insisted the two had spoken recently, though Rimmer later refuted this as "completely untrue." Rimmer, who has been an MP since 2015, emphasized that her constituency party decides who stands, not herself.
Pressure on Starmer Intensifies
More than 80 MPs have called for Starmer's resignation following poor local and devolved election results across England, Scotland, and Wales. Many of these MPs are Burnham supporters who have published letters urging an "orderly transition" to allow the mayor to seek a seat. Writing in The Guardian, Neal Lawson, director of Compass, argued that only the NEC's officers' group stands in Burnham's way, having blocked him from contesting the Gorton and Denton byelection previously. Lawson called on the NEC to state that Burnham would be allowed to fight any direct vacancy, enabling local members to decide.
Criticism of Streeting's Potential Coronation
A close Burnham ally expressed frustration at what they perceived as Streeting's attempt to engineer a rapid succession, effectively excluding Burnham. "We can't afford a coronation from Keir to Wes or whatever – that's not going to cut it with the country," they said. When asked if an MP could stand aside for Burnham within 48 hours, the ally admitted uncertainty, noting that each potential candidate has their own complexities.
Sources on the NEC suggested a different course could be taken next time. One source indicated that the officers' group might act if there were a clear question over political authority, but only after a byelection was called. Another noted that "things could move" if Starmer clearly lacked support to continue as prime minister.
Electoral Risks and High Stakes
Burnham's team is confident he would win one of the seats on his shortlist, located in his power bases of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. However, they acknowledge risks after Labour's severe losses to Reform UK on 7 May. Across Greater Manchester's 10 councils, Labour lost 108 councillors while Reform gained 103. In St Helens, Reform ended Labour's 16-year council control by winning 34 of 48 seats.
Professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary University of London described any contest for Burnham to return to parliament as "one of the highest-stakes byelections since the coming of democracy in Britain." It would involve Burnham relinquishing his mayoralty and triggering the first byelection for a combined authority, spanning an electorate of about 2 million people. Bale suggested Burnham would have a "pretty good chance" of winning, as he would be seen as the candidate to oust Starmer, uniting voters across the political spectrum.
