Sir Keir Starmer has told his backers he will fight any leadership battle thrown his way – especially if Andy Burnham wins the upcoming Makerfield by-election.
Last week, the Greater Manchester Mayor laid out his leadership ambitions and admitted he would seek to challenge the Prime Minister if he becomes an MP following the crunch contest on June 18.
Mr Burnham claimed that fellow leadership rival Wes Streeting “seems to have already launched” a contest and confirmed he would also throw his hat in the ring.
While no formal procedures have been triggered, weeks of speculation have fanned the flames of an upcoming scrabble for power amongst some of Labour’s most prominent figures.
If a leadership contest were to be held, the pollsters at Survation revealed that the Mayor was the party’s favourite, winning 42 per cent of approval, with fellow rivals Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner trailing behind on 11 per cent each.
At the time of Mr Burnham’s bold declaration, No10 issued a fiery response, vowing that Sir Keir would “not walk away” from Downing Street and insisted he would seek to bat off any challenge.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister will not walk away from the mandate he was given just two years ago to build a stronger, fairer Britain.”
And, this weekend, the Labour leader has doubled down on his grasp on power, telling supporters he would fight against rivals in a leadership race.
During the bombshell interview, Mr Burnham said: “I can’t do anything unless I’m lucky enough to get the support of people here.
“But if I get your support, I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level and give this constituency maximum power and influence.
“I think Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that is running I would seek to join it, but I’d have to persuade members of the Parliamentary Labour Party to do the same.”
After Labour’s disastrous set of local election results, where the party fumbled swathes of Scotland and England support, as well as its 27-year grip on the Senedd, almost 100 MPs demanded that Sir Keir step aside.
To top the coup, Mr Streeting resigned as Health Secretary in the aftermath of the electoral battering as he told his boss that he had “lost confidence” in his leadership.
In a damning resignation letter, the man eyeing up the top job accused Sir Keir of a “vacuum” in vision and allowing the Government to “drift”.
The Ilford North MP was promptly replaced with James Murray, a close ally of the Prime Minister.
The same day as his resignation, Josh Simons, the former MP for Makerfield, announced he would stand down as the constituency’s representative, paving a route back to Westminster for the “King of the North”.
Once he was approved by Labour’s ruling body, Mr Burnham kickstarted the Manchester campaign, going head-to-head with Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon.
Mr Burnham must beat off the challenge of the populist party up north, which recorded a clean sweep of wins across the eight wards in the local elections, winning a total vote share of 50 per cent.
Nevertheless, Sir Keir’s staunch allies have remained committed to his leadership, with Attorney General Lord Hermer claiming that the ex-lawyer had been “consistently underestimated throughout his life”.
Lord Hermer said: “And he has always proven his critics wrong.
When he was DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions], taking on some of the most dangerous organised criminal gangs, or politicians or indeed the media.
“When he came in as Labour leader, people said ‘you’re never gonna turn this party around so it’s electable within three election cycles’, but yet we had the victory in 2024, so no one has ever got rich betting against Keir Starmer.”
