Andy Burnham refuses to rule out challenging Starmer for leadership
Andy Burnham twice failed to reject a Labor leadership bid after an MP said he would vacate his seat so the mayor of Greater Manchester could return to Westminster.
Burnham has since been at the center of speculation about a move against Sir Keir Starmer. Labor Party’s autumn conference But he could only do this if he was a member of parliament.
On Wednesday, Norwich South MP Clive Lewis said he was willing to resign to make way for Burnham to return to the House of Commons via a by-election.
Burnham was quizzed about the MP’s offer on both BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, but said only that she was “fully focused” on her current role as mayor.
On BBC Breakfast, presenter Naga Munchetty tried to determine whether Burnham could serve out her full term as mayor, which runs until 2028.
“I don’t know what the world will bring, but I’m focused on my work here in Greater Manchester,” he replied.
He went further: “I haven’t started any leadership challenge,” he said, adding: “I’m not going to sit here this morning and ignore what may or may not happen in the future; I don’t know what the future holds.”
Burnham later criticized journalists for speculating, saying they were “constantly answering hypothetical questions” and claimed MPs at Westminster were “constantly speculating and not putting forward solutions”.
Labor Party rules state that candidates for any leadership challenge must be MPs and also have the support of at least 80 MPs to run against the incumbent.
Two Manchester MPs, Andrew Gwynne and Graham Stringer, had previously refused to give up their seats so Burnham could stand.
Speaking to the BBC’s Politics Live program on Wednesday, Lewis said siding with Burnham was “a question I’ve been asking myself” and added the answer had to be “yes”.
The MP who represented Norwich South for 10 years later he told The Sun “there was no plan to withdraw” and he was answering a “hypothetical question”.
The Norwich South MP said last week that Sir Keir’s position as prime minister was “untenable” and told Channel 4 News Burnham should be given the chance to “step up”.
On the Today programme, host Emma Barnett asked Burnham if she would take up Lewis’ offer to leave the seat, but she only said: “Thank you for your support” and reiterated how she was focusing on her current job.
Before becoming mayor of Manchester in 2017, Burnham served as a cabinet and shadow cabinet minister under successive Labor leaders and made two unsuccessful Labor leadership bids.
Lewis first won his seat in 2015 and increased his majority to more than 13,000 last year.
But if he were to resign, any successor would have to first win an election contest before a by-election could be held.
