No invite for Starmer? Rayner and Burnham spotted holding late-night meeting in Manchester fuelling talk of a leadership challenge days after pair were all smiles with PM

Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have fueled speculation Keir Starmer will be challenged after they were seen having secret talks late at night.

Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham was seen leaving Ms Rayner’s constituency in the city late on Friday, days after playing with happy families with the Prime Minister on the campaign trail.

Ms Rayner is seen as one of the leading candidates to run for the leadership if Sir Keir is challenged following a poor showing in the May 7 local elections.

This is despite him still awaiting the results of an official HMRC investigation into the tax he paid last year when buying an £800,000 holiday home 250 miles from his constituency.

And Mr Burnham has made little secret of his desire for the top job after seeing Sir Keir’s bid to return to Westminster thwarted when he was blocked from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election this year.

As he is not an MP he has little chance of making the squad if there is a challenge next month, but his support for Ms Rayner will carry huge weight in Labor circles.

Their spectacular display from Mr Rayner’s home sofa in Ashton-under-Lyne came five days after he appeared alongside Sir Keir on a visit to Greater Manchester and shared a joke while sitting with schoolchildren.

However, the meeting took place amid the fallout from recent revelations about how Lord Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the US despite his close friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Prime Minister has faced a new wave of calls to resign after it was revealed that Mandelson had been approved for the job despite red flags in his security clearance.

Ms Rayner is seen as one of the leading candidates to run for leadership if Sir Keir is challenged following a poor showing in the May 7 local elections

A Labor MP told the Sun: ‘They will tear it apart. If Andy endorsed Angela as leader, this would lead to many MPs supporting him.

‘Then he could get him a seat in Parliament and bring him straight into the Cabinet.’

The duo’s allies denied the meeting was held to work on a leadership challenge.

Some MPs downplayed the prospect of a leadership move against Sir Keir, believing it would look bad after just two years in power, especially as Trump’s war with Iran negatively impacts consumers.

Last week Ms Rayner was said to have abandoned plans to move against her former boss and instead focused on helping her local election campaign.

But the Mandelson scandal may push further.

This week former minister Louise Haigh will speak at a conference to call for a major overhaul of council tax and stamp duty, which will put pressure on ministers to take action.

He will speak at the Good Growth Group’s National Growth Debate on Tuesday.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Sir Keir Starmer was “a big part of the problem” for Labor MPs.

Sir Ed told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Sir Keir had shown ‘catastrophic misjudgment’ on ‘so many levels’.

He said: ‘What I think Labor MPs need to think about quite carefully at the moment is that their government has, frankly, failed a bit on the economy and on a lot of things, and the Conservatives are in chaos, in chaos as in a perpetual crisis, and I don’t think they can get out of it unless Keir Starmer steps aside.

‘And if they don’t, there’s a danger they could hand the keys to No 10 to Nigel Farage, who could benefit from the chaos.

‘So I really want to say to Labor MPs, who in many respects have the Prime Minister’s future in their hands, that they need to recognize that the Prime Minister is a big part of their problems, and in the context of the threat that Nigel Farage poses to our democracy and our country with his divisive Trump-like policies, I think Labor needs to move on.’