Andy Burnham Plans Meetings With Labour MPs As He Pushes For No 10
3 min read
Exclusive: Andy Burnham is expected to meet with Labour MPs on Monday as he prepares a bid to replace Keir Starmer in Downing Street.
The incoming MP for Makerfield is understood to be prioritising MPs with whom he does not have strong relationships, like those elected at the 2024 general election, several sources told PoliticsHome.
Burnham pulled off a landslide victory at the Makerfield by-election on Thursday, finishing far ahead of second-placed Reform UK and winning more voters than all other candidates combined.
The former health secretary, who now must resign as Greater Manchester mayor to return to the House of Commons, said the result was a "loud cry for change".
Attention now turns to when and how Burnham will challenge the leadership of Keir Starmer.
The Prime Minister reiterated this morning that he would stand in any Labour leadership contest and would not "walk away".
PoliticsHome understands that the Burnham operation is reluctant to take an overly aggressive approach to removing Starmer, and hopes that the PM will agree in the coming days to stand aside in an orderly fashion. Burnham backers are not currently pushing for cabinet resignations to pressure Starmer into quitting, for example.
“The PM should take the weekend to consider,” said one MP organising for Burnham.
“He has tried to make stability his mantra, that’s what he started when he was elected on 4 July 2024, and he has brought stability to the economy, and then that’s how he can close it out two years later: ending on stability, by going out in a calm way.”
Burnham's supporters say the manner of his victory in a seat where Nigel Farage's Reform UK made major gains at last month's local elections makes the case for putting him in No 10 even stronger. “It is such a huge message," said one Labour MP helping his campaign.
Jo White, who chairs the Red Wall caucus of Labour MPs in the North and the Midlands, today publicly urged Starmer to stand aside for Burnham.
The number of Labour MPs who have called on Starmer had reached 100 at the time of writing.
A different Labour MP, who has been invited to meet Burnham on Monday, told PoliticsHome: "I was waiting to see the result [in Makerfield], and because the scale of the result is so significant, in my patch, [he] is definitely the best chance of winning people back."
They continued: "The truth is, and it's been briefed a little bit, there is a slight concern, Andy Burnham doesn't know the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party].
"He was obviously in government before, but there's a whole bunch of people he doesn't know now. And the meetings on Monday are prioritising people he doesn't know."
