PM says Greater Manchester mayor is ‘huge asset’, who can play big part in Labour government if he wins byelection
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Keir Starmer has indicated that he would give Andy Burnham a cabinet job, describing him as a “huge asset”, as he attempted to head off a challenge to his leadership that is expected to come after the Makerfield byelection on Thursday.
Starmer, who is fighting for his political life from the G7 in Évian-les-Bains in France, said if there was a leadership challenge he intended to “fight”.
“What I will say about Andy is he is a huge asset to our party and our movement,” he told reporters at the gathering in the French spa town. “I hope he wins the byelection, and he plays a big part in the Labour government. He’s been a very successful mayor. When I came into politics, his was the team that I joined, and we work very closely together.”
The prime minister said that it was important that Labour focused on the Greater Manchester mayoral byelection after the contest in Makerfield, describing it as “one of the biggest byelections we’ve ever fought”.
“[I]t’s really important to my mind that the whole of the Labour party and Labour movement focuses on that, which is the next most immediate task,” he said. Asked if there was any way he would stand aside for Burnham, or any other leadership contender such as the former health secretary Wes Streeting, he said: “I don’t think there should be a challenge. I think history, particularly the last government, shows that that isn’t a successful way for a government to behave.
“But if there is a challenge, then I intend to fight. I’m not going to walk away from that, and I’ve been clear and consistent about that.”
Streeting has said he would be prepared to challenge Starmer and spark a Labour leadership contest as early as next week.
The former health secretary, who quit the cabinet last month, said “uncertainty and paralysis” would have to be ended and that he would give the prime minister at least the weekend to think about it.
The intervention by Streeting came as voters in Makerfield prepare to go to the polls in a byelection on Thursday that Burnham hopes to use as a springboard back into parliament before a leadership tilt. Polls show he is leading Reform UK in the Greater Manchester constituency.
While it is Burnham’s intention to seek to replace Starmer as prime minister as early as possible, his supporters are sceptical of Streeting’s bullishness about a contest and have cast doubt on whether he has the support of the 81 Labour MPs needed to trigger a leadership contest.
Nevertheless, when asked on BBC Two’s Newsnight on Wednesday night if he would trigger a contest if Burnham wins, Streeting said: “I think the prime minister should be given some space and time to reflect over the weekend and I think we should see where we are then.
“I would prefer the prime minister to take a decision on his own terms rather than leave it for me or Andy or anyone else to trigger a contest. If not, we can’t carry on with this uncertainty and paralysis and there will need to be a contest and I would be prepared to do that.”
Streeting had held back on issuing the warning that he would trigger a contest when he gave a speech earlier on Tuesday in London where he argued for a “progressive capitalist” approach.
He insisted he did have the support of 81 Labour MPs and warned those who would stand against him that Labour members would be able to “smell inauthenticity” where “people are trying to tack left, adopt one position one day and another position another day”.
The Cabinet Office minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, would not be drawn on whether a Labour leadership challenge would begin next week.
Asked whether he expected Streeting to launch a challenge next week, he told Sky News: “I’m not Nostradamus.”
He added: “All I would say is, if you look at this week, on Monday the government announced a social media ban for under-16s. At the G7, the prime minister has just secured £1.3bn of investment into the UK, creating over 1,400 jobs.”
Further pressure was also heaped on Starmer by the former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who told the Daily Mirror in an interview that Makerfield byelection had to be a “line in the sand”. Rayner praised Burnham while warning that time was running out for Labour to turn its fortunes around.
Source: Guardian - World News
