Andy Burnham has announced he intends to stand for Parliament amid speculation he may be planning to launch a Labour leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.
The Greater Manchester mayor has asked for permission to contest the Gorton and Denton by-election, which could take place as early as next month.
Mr Burnham is seen as the leading candidate to replace Sir Keir as Labour leader and Prime Minister.
He can only mount a leadership challenge as a Labour MP – meaning he will first have to quit as Mayor and then win the by-election in the north-west constituency.
However, there are still several hurdles he must clear.
As a serving regional mayor, Mr Burnham has had to ask permission from Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to be able to run, with the deadline to make the request set at 5pm today.
Minutes after 5pm, Mr Burnham took to social media to confirm he had written to the NEC to request permission to run in the by-election.
He said he had taken the ‘difficult decision’ having ‘given careful thought to what is in the best interests of our Party and the city-region I represent.’
Reports have suggested that supporters of the Prime Minister on the NEC may seek to block his candidacy, either out of fear it would destabilise the Government or to prevent another by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty.
He must also see off competition from other parties to win the seat, which is now seen as a three-way marginal between Labour, Reform and the Green Party.
Andy Burnham has announced he will stand for Parliament amid speculation he may be planning to launch a Labour leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer
Angela Rayner pictured canvassing in Birmingham with Mr Burnham in May last year
Regardless several figures within the Labour party have called for Mr Burnham to be allowed to stand.
Most explicit was Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, who told the Fabian Society conference today he thought Mr Burnham should be permitted to run and that he would campaign for him.
He said: ‘I think if Andy Burnham wants to be a member of Parliament, Andy Burnham should be allowed to be a member of Parliament.
‘I’m a firm believer in the best team having all the talent playing for them, and if Andy wants to return to Parliament, I will try and make some time between now and the by-election to knock on some doors for him, or whoever the candidate is.’
Earlier, Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell told the same conference that the decision on whether Mr Burnham should be the candidate ought to be ‘up to Andy and the local members’.
Both also reiterated their support for Sir Keir Starmer, with Ms Powell urging the party to ‘get behind’ the Prime Minister.
And Sir Sadiq stressed Sir Keir’s success in securing Labour’s election victory and pointed to achievements including more rights for renters and workers and the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.
Other MPs backing Mr Burnham reportedly include Chris Webb, Kim Johnson, Nadia Whittome, Karl Turner, Kate Osborne and Tony Vaughan.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, speaks on stage during the Fabian Society New Year Conference in London
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned against a ‘London stitch-up’ that would prevent leadership rival Andy Burnham from returning to Westminster
Speculation has surrounded a possible return to Westminster for Mr Burnham since Andrew Gwynne announced he would resign as an MP on health grounds on Thursday.
Mr Gwynne was suspended by Labour last year after The Mail on Sunday uncovered a series of offensive WhatsApp messages he had sent, including one in which he said he hoped for the death of an elderly constituent who complained about bin collections.
He is reported to have cut a deal to retire on health grounds in return for assurances about his MP’s pension.
Commons sources suggested the deal would see Mr Gwynne – who is only 51 – paid up until pension age, at which point he would receive a full Parliamentary pension. That package could be worth around £1million, according to one insider.
Mr Burnham, who is widely believed to have ambitions to lead the party, previously served as an MP for Leigh between 2001 and 2017.
He studied at Cambridge University and turned to politics at the age of 24 to become Tessa Jowell’s researcher.
Mr Burnham has stood for the Labour leadership on two previous occasions.
On Friday, several Labour MPs warned against using the NEC to block Mr Burnham from standing in Gorton and Denton.
Jo White, who chairs the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, said: ‘Let the North decide who their Labour candidate should be for the Gorton and Denton by-election. A London stitch-up will be a disaster for Labour.’
Crewe and Nantwich MP Connor Naismith said: ‘Gorton and Denton deserves the best possible choice of candidates.
‘I agree with the Prime Minister that our attention should be on delivering for the public, not speculating about future leadership contests.
‘Any decision made to limit the choice would be wrong.’
A member of the NEC told the BBC’s Newsnight she agreed with the parliamentarians.
Gemma Bolton, a constituency members’ representative on the committee, told the programme it would be ‘outrageous’ to block Mr Burnham should he stand, adding it would ‘show a real weakness’ in Sir Keir’s leadership.
Cat Smith, the Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre, said it would be ‘disappointing’ if Number 10 were to block strong candidates from being able to be considered in the Gorton and Denton constituency.
Ms Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I don’t know the decision that’s being made at Number 10, but what I do know is that Labour Party members in Gorton and Denton are the people who should be deciding who the Labour candidate is for the by-election and that the voters in Gorton and Denton are the people that will make the decision on who that person is when the by-election happens.
‘I think it would be disappointing if Number 10 were to block strong candidates from being able to be considered by the party members in Gorton and Denton, to be able to choose their candidate in this by-election.’
Andy Burnham would first have to secure a waiver from Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in order to give up his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester to run for Parliament or (more likely) quit the job before putting himself forward.
SECOND, he would have to make it on to the longlist for the seat. This should, in theory, be relatively straightforward given his public profile.
NEXT he would have to pass an interview stage with an NEC panel made up of five members (three officers of the NEC, a representative from the regional board and a local constituency representative) in order to make it on to their shortlist.
This could be a potential stumbling block given the current makeup of the NEC, which is said to be aligned with the Prime Minister.
They are said to be considering making the shortlist women or BAME candidates only.
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester speaks at a fringe meeting during the Britain’s Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool in September
STEP four for Mr Burnham, after being selected as a candidate on the shortlist, would be selection by Constituency Labour Party members.
If he makes it this far, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which Mr Burnham does not win a ballot of Manchester Labour members at a selection meeting.
THEN, finally, he would have to actually win the by-election as a Labour candidate.
This is not such an easy feat while Reform UK is surging in the polls and the Greens are hovering close-by.
