Lame duck Starmer has ‘only hastened his demise’ after he personally helped block Burnham’s return

Keir Starmer was warned last night that the by-election hurdle for Andy Burnham made him more likely to face a leadership challenge.

In a dramatic day yesterday, the Prime Minister was accused of running away in fear after personally leading efforts to stop the mayor of Greater Manchester’s bid to become an MP.

Sir Keir’s decision risks triggering a civil war within the Labor Party after he was confronted by powerful party figures who publicly backed Mr Burnham’s bid to return to Westminster.

Last night Mr Burnham broke his silence to criticize ‘the way the Labor Party is being run’ after revealing the decision had been told to the media before him.

Posting on X, Mr Burnham said: ‘I am disappointed by the NEC’s decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important election ahead.’

He added: ‘The fact that the media were informed about the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about how Labor is run these days.

‘You’d think 30+ years of service would mean something, but unfortunately it doesn’t.’

The move to prevent him from fighting the Gorton and Denton by-elections has infuriated Labor MPs, who warned Sir Keir it would ‘hasten his demise’ and increase his chances of a leadership challenge.

Mr Burnham, who was photographed walking with his mother, broke his silence to criticize ‘the way the Labor Party is being run’ after revealing that the media had been told of the decision before him.

Amid the furore, Sir Keir was seen in the stands at the Emirates Stadium watching his football club Arsenal lose 3-2 at home to Manchester United yesterday.

Labor faces tough local elections in Wales and Scotland in May, where it is expected to deliver a disastrous performance and lose seats to UK Reform.

There is also anger that the party has gifted the seat to Nigel Farage’s party by blocking Mr Burnham, arguably Labour’s best candidate.

Karl Turner, the Labor MP for Kingston upon Hull East, said the decision to sabotage Mr Burnham’s bid ‘provided the party with a greater chance of a challenge’ if it lost the by-election.

Labor MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he had sent a message to the Prime Minister saying: “If he thinks this is strengthening his position, I think it will hasten his demise if he is not careful.”

And former Labor MP Diane Abbott, now an independent, added: ‘If the results in May are as bad as we all think they are, there will be a challenger from somewhere.’

Yesterday, facing huge political risk, Sir Keir launched a lawsuit against Mr Burnham leaving his post and running for the seat. He and the overwhelming majority of the party’s board voted against the possibility of a rerun of the Manchester mayoral election.

Any directly elected Labor mayor must obtain permission from the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) before standing in a by-election. Labor said the party had rejected it to “avoid an unnecessary mayoral election that would have spent significant amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources better spent tackling the cost of living crisis”.

The jostling between the Prime Minister’s hopeful successors will begin in earnest again, with Angela Rayner likely to take on the responsibility.

The decision was taken at a 45-minute meeting attended by ten members of the NEC, led by Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood, who did not take part in the vote. The panel, which included Attorney General Ellie Reeves, sister of Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, voted 8-1 to block Mr Burnham.

But in a sign of divisions within the party, Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell was his only ally and the only supporting vote.

Labor sources said the decision was taken to avoid a costly and poisonous fight against Reformation by Manchester’s mayoralty.

There are suggestions that the cost of running the mayoral election at the same time as the by-election would cost millions, with the latter costing around £4.7 million.

There were also major fears that Reform could take the mayoralty, the biggest prize yet for Mr Farage.

Mr Burnham said yesterday: ‘[On Monday] I return with full focus to my role as GM Mayor, championing everything we have built in our city-region over many years.

I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive policies of the ‘Reformation’ from damaging this. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way.’ The by-election race was triggered on Friday after disgraced former Labor Secretary Andrew Gwynne resigned on health grounds.

Mr Gwynne was suspended by Labor last year after The Mail on Sunday revealed a series of offensive WhatsApp messages he had sent.

Allies of Health Secretary Wes Streeting believe he has the ‘solid’ support of almost half of Labor’s 404 MPs to challenge Sir Keir for the leadership

The once-safe Labor seat is thought to be a triple marginal between Labour, Reform and the Greens. The decision to block Mr Burnham caused deep anger among Labor MPs, including Jo White, chair of the influential Red Wall group, who called on the North to make the decision on Friday.

The decision also infuriated powerful union bosses, including Unison leader Andrea Egan, who warned against ‘control frenzy’ before the decision. He tweeted yesterday: ‘This is not the way any democratic organization should be run. ‘Now is the time to unite our movement, not divide it.’

This debate has led to a North-South divide within the party and has the potential to plunge Labor further into civil war.

With Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner taking the lead, the jostling between the Prime Minister’s hopeful successors will resume in earnest.

The Health Secretary’s allies believe he has the ‘solid’ support of almost half of Labour’s 404 MPs to challenge Sir Keir for the leadership.

But former deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner and Energy Minister Ed Miliband, who top members’ polls, are also frequently named as candidates.

Mr Streeting has made little secret of his desire to become Prime Minister at one point and has been linked with a challenge if Labor suffers a blow in local elections in May.