Andy Burnham has pledged to sack any member of his team found briefing against female ministers, as the would-be prime minister seeks to distance himself from a culture of misogyny that has dogged the Labour Party. The pledge came during a meeting of the women’s parliamentary Labour party (PLP), where he said: “Culture really does matter and we need to change that culture. I want to make it clear that if anyone in my team was found to have done that they would be out of the door. Their feet wouldn’t touch the floor.”
The intervention follows complaints from senior Labour women about a pattern of negative briefings to the media. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy previously said “some of the briefings have been absolutely dripping with misogyny”, while Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she had been the victim of “sexist briefings”. Former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh also claimed there was a pattern of sexist and misogynistic leaks.
“Andy Burnham vows to sack aides over sexist briefings as senior Labour figures confirm party is uniting behind his leadership.”
Burnham also hit out at an anonymous comment in The Spectator last week, which claimed he would be “Labour’s first woman prime minister” because of his “unashamedly female agenda”. The remark enraged MPs, and Burnham told the meeting: “I want to put on record that I never have and never will describe myself as the first female Labour PM.”
The moves come as two senior Labour figures, deputy leader Lucy Powell and Housing Secretary Steve Reed, told the BBC the party is uniting behind Burnham as its next leader. Sir Keir Starmer resigned earlier this week, triggering a leadership contest. But Powell said: “I’m pleased that actually what it looks like is we’re probably going to have just the one candidate in Andy Burnham. How refreshing that would be – that the whole Labour Party is agreed on the new leader and we don’t have to go through a contest that could be damaging.” Reed agreed the party was “going to move very swiftly to uniting behind Andy Burnham” without “turning inwards”, which he described as absolutely essential.
Despite the show of unity, there is pressure on Burnham to appoint women to top jobs. Female MPs wrote to him urging that half of his No10 staff be women and that he appoint a female deputy PM. Their letter, first reported by LBC, said: “Rooms where decisions are being made are often closed to us, leading to blind spots in appointment decisions and policy development.”
The only potential challenger is former defence minister Al Carns, who has said a speech on Monday in which Burnham will set out his economic policy will decide whether he runs. Meanwhile, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has called for an immediate general election, but the Conservatives have not. Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said a general election would delay key decisions, particularly on defence spending, adding: “I, of course, did not call for one when we changed leaders mid-term, but there is a job of work to be done and we should get on with it.”
Burnham’s ascent has also triggered debate about his “Northern” identity. An article in UnHerd described him as “a plastic Northerner” and “a professional Northerner”, questioning whether his appeal is rooted in a collapse of confidence in Westminster rather than a new kind of centre-left politics. But with Powell and Reed insisting the party will avoid a damaging contest, Burnham appears on course to become Labour's next leader – and Britain’s next prime minister.