All posts tagged: Burnham

Angela Rayner Holds Secret Meeting With Andy Burnham

Angela Rayner Holds Secret Meeting With Andy Burnham

Published by Sam Flores

Angela Rayner had a secret meeting with Andy Burnham on Friday night, according to new reports. The Sun on Sunday shared photos of the Greater Manchester mayor arriving at the former deputy prime minister’s constituency home in Ashton. Their summit adds to mounting speculation the two soft-left Labour figures might be considering launching a joint coup. Their encounter came hours after Keir Starmer furiously defended his premiership amid fresh developments in the Peter Mandelson scandal. It was revealed by the Guardian this week that the ex-Labour peer failed security vetting, but still secured the top job as the UK’s ambassador to the US. Starmer has since insisted that he was not told Mandelson had failed and only found out on Tuesday night. He then sacked the chief of the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, on Thursday night. As scrutiny over Starmer’s judgement grows once again, technology secretary Liz Kendall sent a message to the PM’s potential opponents this morning. She said: “Any politician that focuses more on their future and their job, not people’s future sand …

Politics Home | Andy Burnham Will Be Labour Leader “In The Not Too Distant Future”, Predicts Karl Turner MP

Politics Home | Andy Burnham Will Be Labour Leader “In The Not Too Distant Future”, Predicts Karl Turner MP

Published by Sam Flores

Keir Starrmer appeared alomgside Andy Burnham in a rare show of unity at a campaign event this week (Alamy) 4 min read3 hr An MP who recently lost the Labour whip has said that Keir Starmer’s leadership is “now beyond the point of no return” and that he expects Andy Burnham to take over soon. Karl Turner, the MP for Kingston upon Hull East, said the Greater Manchester mayor is “authentic” and “what the punters need”, adding that people in his Yorkshire constituency and nationwide “don’t think Keir Starmer believes in anything”. Turner was speaking to The Rundown podcast from PoliticsHome on Thursday, before new revelations about Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US put further pressure on Starmer’s position. The Guardian reported that Mandelson was given the senior diplomatic job despite failing his security vetting. Starmer has blamed Foreign Office officials for not making him aware of the vetting failure, and last night sacked Olly Robbins as the department’s permanent secretary. Labour suspended the whip from Turner last month after weeks of …

The House Article | Team Burnham Is Getting Organised Ahead Of The May Elections

The House Article | Team Burnham Is Getting Organised Ahead Of The May Elections

Published by Sam Flores

4 min read1 hr Labour MPs say Angela Rayner is down, Andy Burnham is up. Sienna Rodgers reports on the obstacles on the mayor’s path to No 10 Even the most enthusiastic advocates of a change in the Labour leadership are starting to wonder whether the current stalemate will really be broken by terrible results in May. The party’s press operation may not yet have begun its expectation management ahead of the elections, but a very low bar has already been set in the minds of its MPs. “Ah, but that’s baked in,” they often say when asked about the possibility of shocking outcomes such as losing power in Wales for the first time ever. The number of Labour councillors lost in England could easily exceed 1,000, one whip privately conceded with a shrug. The mood of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) can shift quickly, however, and allies of Andy Burnham hope that, in the case of truly dismal results, MPs will wake up to the severity of the crisis the party …

The House Opinion Article | Worker Bees: Inside The Burnham Operation

The House Opinion Article | Worker Bees: Inside The Burnham Operation

Published by Sam Flores

9 min read6 min Andy Burnham remains a likely candidate to replace Keir Starmer if the Prime Minister leaves office before the next election. Tom Scotson goes in search of the people, ideas and forces shaping what would be his third leadership campaign Last October, Andy Burnham was a badly damaged figure. A series of high-profile interventions in the run-up to and during Labour’s conference – widely interpreted as a soft coup – had misfired. Keir Starmer’s allies mocked the so-called ‘King of the North’ as a presumptuous, vainglorious blowhard, a risk to the UK’s financial credibility and a political dead-end for Labour. At this low point, an old friend offered some comradely advice to the Greater Manchester mayor. “Remember what Lenin said in 1917 as he waited for a train in Switzerland,” David Blunkett recalls telling Burnham. “Timing is everything in politics.” The timing – six months on – looks rather different. Labour is braced for heavy losses in elections in Scotland, Wales and England’s local councils. And while the Iran conflict …

Politics Home | Andy Burnham Says Labour’s By-Election Defeat Shows “Chasm” Between Westminster And Voters

Politics Home | Andy Burnham Says Labour’s By-Election Defeat Shows “Chasm” Between Westminster And Voters

Published by Sam Flores

(Alamy) 3 min read1 hr Andy Burnham has said that Labour’s historic defeat at the Gorton and Denton by-election demonstrated the “chasm” between Westminster and the public. In his first public intervention since Labour lost the Greater Manchester contest to the Greens last week, Burnham said the result ought to be a “code red for Westminster politics”. Labour had controlled the constituency for over 100 years before falling to third place behind the Greens and Reform UK last week.  Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, wanted to be Labour’s candidate and was widely seen as the party’s most likely chance of keeping hold of the seat, but was blocked by senior Labour officials, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer.  As well as being a bruising result for Labour, it was another blow to Westminster’s historic, two-party system, with neither of the top two parties being Labour or the Conservatives. Speaking at an event in London hosted by the Centre for Cities think tank on Wednesday, Burnham said: “What I want to say today is that the time has most definitely come …

Andy Burnham Slams Jim Ratcliffe Over ‘Insulting’ Migrant Claim

Andy Burnham Slams Jim Ratcliffe Over ‘Insulting’ Migrant Claim

Published by Sam Flores

Andy Burnham has joined the growing condemnation Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe’s shocking claim that the UK is “being colonised” by immigrants. The mayor of Greater Manchester said the billionaire’s “inaccurate, insulting, inflammatory” remarks should be withdrawn. It comes after prime minister Keir Starmer also criticised Ratcliffe for his “offensive and wrong” comments, and urged him to apologise. The row began after Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of petrochemical giant Ineos, told Sky News on Wednesday that Britain’s population had increased by 12 million since 2020. The real figure is closer to three million. He said: “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. “I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.” Burnham slammed the remarks in a social media statement, saying the comments “go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood: a place where people of all races, faiths and none have pulled together over centuries to build our city and our …

Politics Home Article | Labour Still Hopes Burnham Could Deliver The Party A By-Election Win

Politics Home Article | Labour Still Hopes Burnham Could Deliver The Party A By-Election Win

Published by Sam Flores

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, September 2025 (PA Images / Alamy Live News) 3 min read12 min Labour is increasingly confident that it could win the Gorton and Denton by-election – and it is relying on Andy Burnham to help hold the seat, despite blocking him as a candidate. Labour activists and MPs who have been door-knocking in the Greater Manchester constituency ahead of the by-election later this month have reported that they are cautiously optimistic that Labour could hold the seat, which some party sources had briefed would be impossible when it was first vacated. Gorton and Denton is a typically safe Labour area. The party won the constituency with a majority of over 13,000 at the 2024 general election, making it one of 70 seats that Labour won with an absolute majority. Defeat there would represent a major blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is trying to shore up his position in Downing Street. Both the Greens and Reform UK believe they can win it. Andrew Gwynne stood down as the seat’s MP last …

Labour Mayor Condemns Gutless Criticism Of Andy Burnham

Labour Mayor Condemns Gutless Criticism Of Andy Burnham

Published by Sam Flores

A Labour mayor has condemned the “gutless” senior party figures briefing anonymously against Andy Burnham. Steve Rotheram hit out amid the ongoing Labour civil war over the decision to block the Manchester mayor from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election on February 26. Keir Starmer said allowing Burnham to run could have triggered a separate by-election for the Manchester mayoralty, which would cost the party and taxpayers millions of pounds. Burnham has spoken of his disappointment at being snubbed – and accused Labour of never supporting him in any of his three mayoral elections. But a cabinet minister told The Times: “He’s been handed everything on a plate for his whole career. He’s now angry because people won’t make way for his second coming. It’s typical Andy.” In a post on X, Liverpool mayor Rotheram said: “Enough already. I’ve kept my counsel so far because there were assurances from the prime minister that anonymous briefings against Andy Burnham would stop. “These gutless people hide behind the cloak of anonymity – just like the keyboard …

Labour blocks Andy Burnham from standing for parliament: how it happened and why

Labour blocks Andy Burnham from standing for parliament: how it happened and why

Published by Sam Flores

The Labour party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has voted to block Andy Burnham from seeking selection for the vacant Gorton and Denton parliamentary seat. The move and its fallout have exposed fault lines within the Labour party that go beyond a single byelection. What might otherwise have been a routine internal procedural matter has instead become a revealing episode about authority, legitimacy and control inside the party – and how Keir Starmer understands both internal democracy and political risk. The vacancy itself arose from the resignation of the Labour MP, Andrew Gwynne. A byelection must now be held in a constituency long assumed to be safely Labour. The party won 50% of the vote at the last general election with Reform second on 14%. Recent electoral volatility, however, has made even such strongholds less predictable. This context matters. Byelections are no longer cost-free exercises in party management. They can become national political moments, particularly when they intersect with questions of leadership and direction. Burnham’s interest in returning to Westminster must be understood against this backdrop. …