Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, has long been open about his leadership ambitions. Now, with Keir Starmer's Labour leadership wobbling, Burnham is making moves that have some MPs eyeing him as a potential successor. Despite not being an MP, Burnham has been strikingly prominent in recent weeks, capitalising on Starmer's struggles.
Burnham's path to No 10 is fraught with challenges. He must first secure a parliamentary seat, a hurdle that has sparked speculation about his next steps. His resignation of senior aide Paul Ovenden over offensive messages about Diane Abbott has done little to ease concerns about Starmer's leadership, which is already under pressure from the Peter Mandelson scandal and Angela Rayner's departure from the cabinet.
Rayner's exit has opened up space for Burnham, as both occupy the 'soft left' of the party. This lane, unconvinced by Jeremy Corbyn but turned off by Starmer's hardline stance on immigration and welfare, is now Burnham's constituency. 'It suddenly becomes much more realistic with her out of the picture,' said Pippa Crerar, the Guardian's political editor.
Burnham has never denied his ambitions, telling the Daily Telegraph in 2023 that he could foresee a return to Westminster if the party deemed it his time. However, the road to No 10 remains difficult, and Burnham does not have complete control over making it a reality. For now, his bee tattoo—a symbol of Manchester—may be as much about political peacocking as it is about substance.
