Andy Burnham has a seat lined up and ready to go as rivals are warned he will never give up trying to become Prime Minister

Andy Burnham has his seat ready and is ready to launch his long-awaited push to become Prime Minister, allies have claimed.

A closely guarded secret, the constituency is just one of the biggest hurdles the mayor of Greater Manchester will have to overcome before entering Downing Street if Keir Starmer does eventually resign.

Although no one has been able to explain the ‘King in the North”s return to Parliament, support for Mr Burnham has grown among Labor MPs in recent weeks.

Mr Burnham left the House of Commons to take the key job in Manchester in 2017 after two unsuccessful runs to become Labor leader, one in 2010 and another in 2015, and a major falling out with Jeremy Corbyn.

But the long-time leadership challenger is now hoping it will be third time lucky for himself, with leading figures such as Angela Rayner saying the next leadership contest should allow him to survive.

His last attempt to rejoin the House of Commons by trying to become Labor’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election was blocked by Labour’s National Executive Committee, chaired by Keir Starmer himself.

But his allies are now counting not just on an MP resigning to run, but also on the NEC finally allowing him to run.

The obstacles Mr. Burnham must overcome are many.

Support for Mr Burnham has surged – but his ability to replace Keir Starmer depends on the PM making it through to September

For the Mayor of Manchester to become Prime Minister, an MP would have to resign; triggering a by-election; apply to the NEC to become a candidate; obtain approval; being selected as a candidate by the local party; win the seat; then represent the Labor leader.

But this all depends entirely on Keir Starmer sticking around as the lame duck prime minister until September.

A close ally of Mr Burnham told the Mail this morning that a constituency had already been drawn up and was ready to go.

They confirmed: ‘I know he has a seat in Greater Manchester.’

‘I don’t know which one it is but it’s definitely Manchester’s seat, not Liverpool’s.’

They added: ‘It can be won. If you look at the mayoral elections, even the Conservative Party is voting for Andy. It’s bigger than the Labor Party in Greater Manchester.’

The name frequently suggested as a potential stand-down is Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Middleton.

While a senior Labor source said the seat was ‘safe as houses’ and that Mr Burnham would win, Mr Stringer denied this and even expressed doubts that Mr Burnham could win a seat in Parliament.

Another name mentioned by an MP for nearby Manchester was Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton).

A soft-left MP who said he was weighing up Mr Streeting with Mr Burnham said: ‘I’m sure they’ll find a seat.’

‘If he gets a seat in the next few days, the Prime Minister and the NEC will not try to block him.’

This was backed up by an NEC source who said they doubted Keir Starmer would once again take part in the vote and ‘allow the NEC to intervene’.

Mr Burnham’s return to parliament is now openly backed by Angela Rayner

Wes Streeting will be the big winner if Keir Starmer resigns immediately

Mr Burnham’s next big moment will come on May 30, when he makes a major speech to the centre-left Compass party.

A source claimed he was already “advising” allies on his speech, which “will lay out a bit of a manifesto”.

But while Mr Burnham’s path to becoming the next Prime Minister after Keir Starmer may be rocky, many Labor sources have warned he will not give up if someone else takes the crown before September.

A source revealed: ‘Whether or not a leadership challenge is launched this week, that won’t stop Andy trying to come back, even though we’ve already changed our leader.’

‘You’ll run into the constant problem of Andy trying to escape.

‘So the question is whether Andy can take part in this leadership contest, probably not. Will it continue to roll over the rest of Parliament? Probably.

‘And he is unaware of the destabilizing nature of this because he is blinded by his own greatness.’

This warning was echoed by another supporter of Mr Burnham; Wes Streeting has suggested that the election of Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband could immediately see Labor emulating the Conservative Party by having three Prime Ministers in one parliament.

They added: ‘This is so hysterical. ‘We’re in a worse position than the Conservatives have ever been.’

Another Burnham ally said Mr Burnham would quickly become ‘a crosshairs’ if someone else took the crown, referring to the show’s famous slogan: ‘That’s what you can win’.

Last week’s local elections forced even MPs who supported Mr Burnham to reconsider whether getting him back into the House of Commons would be as simple as previously hoped.

The Manchester mayor’s star power could struggle to undo Labour’s popularity in seats once thought to be ‘safe’.

A party leader who came out in support of Mr Burnham in recent days warned: ‘If God came down from the sky with a red badge right now, God would struggle to win.’

‘And Andy Burnham is no messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy.’