Burnham latest: Prime minister hopeful one step closer to No 10 after Starmer ally Darren Jones rules himself out of leadership race
Senior minister and Starmer ally Darren Jones has ruled out taking on Andy Burnham for the Labor leadership.
Mr Jones, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sky News this morning that he had been given “confidence” about the former Greater Manchester mayor’s economic plans following a meeting on Tuesday.
Asked if he would stand up to him, Mr Jones said: “I’m not like that. And look, I’ve been flattered by the support of my colleagues, whether MPs or other key stakeholders in the party, but look, that’s not something I would do.”
Mr Burnham, who was sworn in as Makerfield MP on Monday, won last week’s by-election to become the favorite to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Labor leader and prime minister.
But former defense minister Al Carns, who resigned earlier this month over defense spending, remains a possible candidate, telling the BBC on Tuesday he was “pretty serious” about launching a bid but wanted to see what policies the party’s new MP would advocate.
Labor minister says he will ‘absolutely’ support Burnham
Labor Minister Catherine Atkinson said she would “absolutely” support Andy Burnham as leader and insisted he was a “hugely experienced politician”.
“Andy Burnham is a hugely experienced politician. He’s been a Home Secretary, he’s been a Treasury secretary, he’s been a health secretary and he’s shown that he can deliver when he’s mayor of Greater Manchester,” he said.
“I was at Makerfield the last few weekends before the election and for me, I saw hundreds of volunteers who were truly inspired to do their part to see hope overcome division.
“And I think that’s what politics should be about, not the type of donations you get from crypto billionaires, so I think Andy could be that leader and we’ll see what the rest of the Parliamentary Labor Party thinks.”
Asked if he would support him as Labor leader, he told Sky News: “Yes, I would definitely support Andy as leader, but I’m conscious that we have a prime minister like Keir Starmer who always puts the country first. I think that’s what he wanted to do in the decision he made.”
Millie Cooke24 June 2026 07:51
