Burnham plan could bring Wes Streeting challenge within weeks
Andy Burnham’s allies say wes streeting is moving into a Labour leadership race shaped by a plan for Burnham to return to Westminster within weeks through a byelection fight. The Greater Manchester mayor has identified seats where MPs would step aside, and his supporters want him to use the campaign to set out a new agenda for government.
Burnham and Westminster
Burnham was blocked by Labour’s ruling body from running in February’s Gorton and Denton byelection, but allies now say he has a credible route back into Parliament. One Burnham ally said: “There are very strong possibilities of this happening within weeks but certainly months and over the summer.”
His team is understood to have lined up a candidate to replace him as Greater Manchester mayor if he takes a parliamentary seat. Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council, is seen as the frontrunner for that role, and Craig declined to comment when contacted.
Starmer and the 80-MP test
The reported plan is tied to more than one political calculation. Burnham supporters hope to avoid a formal leadership challenge and instead push Keir Starmer into setting out a timetable to stand down soon after next week’s votes in the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and councils across England.
Those backers say the number of MPs supporting Burnham has grown to far more than the 80 needed to challenge the prime minister. MPs have also discussed the possibility of Burnham offering Starmer the chance to stay on as foreign secretary, while Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner would be offered top jobs in a Burnham government.
Greater Manchester seats
Burnham is said to be preparing an explicit programme for government for a prospective parliamentary byelection campaign. Several possible seats have been identified in Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and the pledges backed by him include proportional representation across the UK, a 10-year plan for local services and an overhaul of inheritance tax to pay for social care.
Supporters call him “the king of the north,” and one subheading in the article said there is “No other plan comes close.” Starmer is highly unlikely to play any part in facilitating Burnham’s return, and the two men are not on good terms. If Burnham secures a seat, the immediate pressure shifts to whether Labour MPs treat his bid as a challenge to Starmer or as the start of a managed transition.
Burnham is expected to outline his “radical rewiring” of the state in the coming weeks, with the timing linked to 7 May.
