Labour MPs are reportedly urging colleagues not to depose Sir Keir Starmer next month, instead preparing to demand that Andy Burnham return to parliament to succeed him before the next general election. The Greater Manchester mayor has been making efforts to build bridges with the 2024 intake, having previously been viewed suspiciously by some as aloof.
Burnham was campaigning in five London boroughs on Thursday, the same week Starmer faced a crisis over the failed vetting of Peter Mandelson. Many MPs now say they are willing to back Starmer in the event of a challenge to give time for Burnham to return, having been blocked from standing at the Gorton and Denton byelection.
“It’s Andy or bust,” one senior centrist MP said. “Nothing else works. Nobody else can win. Anything before he has a path is too soon.” Support for Burnham has been growing among the party’s right, while Starmer can count on much of the left to stall the replacement process.
Burnham has let it be known he would still seek to return to parliament at the earliest opportunity and has been speaking to more 2024 MPs to build alliances. He was spotted meeting former deputy leadership candidate Angela Rayner over the weekend. Ministers are also keen to dissuade angry MPs from moving against Starmer too quickly.
One source said backbenchers were preparing to demand that Starmer allow Burnham to return as a price for their support in any summer leadership race. “MPs have coalesced around Burnham in a way they hadn’t before. They don’t want to do what the Tories did with Boris and have a disorderly transition,” the source said.
However, some worry that dragging things out could damage the party. “I am not sure the brand damage would be recoverable from by 2028 in many of the places we need to win,” one MP said. Starmer’s allies have emphasised how the public would react to a leadership contest during a potential economic crisis.
