Andy Burnham has not given up hope of returning to Westminster and will try again, allies say, but would need assurance that Sir Keir Starmer would not block him again. The Greater Manchester mayor’s hopes of an imminent return to parliament appeared remote, however, as No 10 sources suggested relations between the two men were at a low ebb.
Burnham was blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election next month, a decision that triggered a backlash against the prime minister from sections of his own party. Starmer offered to support Burnham running for another north-west England seat in 2027, closer to the end of his mayoralty, but the proposal was not accepted.
One ally of the mayor said: “Andy had thought deeply about all of this and once you’ve reached the conclusion you want to come back, you don’t change your mind. But he will be feeling bruised and disappointed, and you’re not going to put yourself through it again unless you’re confident of a different reaction.” A second supporter argued that Labour MPs should have fought harder to get him on the ticket.
A letter being circulated by soft-left Labour backbenchers described the decision to block Burnham as a gift to Nigel Farage and warned that losing the by-election would be “unimaginable”. The executive of the Tribune group of MPs has conveyed concern to Shabana Mahmood, chair of Labour’s national executive committee.
Starmer defended the decision, saying that holding an unnecessary mayoral election would divert resources from elections that must be fought and won. “Yes, there is a fight, but that fight is with Reform and we all need to line up together,” he said. The prime minister’s allies were trying to shore up support after a turbulent few days.
