Andy Burnham used a Question Time special on Thursday to confirm what many had suspected: if Wes Streeting launches a Labour leadership contest, the Greater Manchester mayor will seek to join it. “I would seek to represent you at the highest level,” he told the audience, acknowledging he would need to persuade members of the Parliamentary Labour Party. The declaration – the clearest yet from a man widely regarded as the frontrunner – triggered an immediate response from No 10 before the programme even ended. “The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and it has not been triggered,” a spokesperson said. “The Prime Minister will not walk away from the mandate he was given just two years ago to build a stronger, fairer Britain.”
Behind the scenes, that resolve has hardened. Until now, Sir Keir Starmer and his allies insisted he would not walk away if a contest were triggered, but stopped short of saying he would actively fight. After Burnham’s intervention, the prime minister told supporters he will stand in any ballot. He believes a leadership contest could “plunge the country into chaos” and points to the massive majority he won two years ago as a mandate he is determined to deliver.
“Andy Burnham says he will enter any Labour leadership contest, prompting Keir Starmer to vow to fight.”
The immediate focus now shifts to the Makerfield by-election on 18 June – a seat Burnham must win to be eligible to stand. Streeting, who has already confirmed he would enter a contest, has encouraged voters to back Burnham there, saying he wants “a proper contest with the best candidates on the field”. Pressure on Starmer has been mounting since last month’s historically bad election results, which saw Labour lose control of the Welsh Senedd and nearly 1,500 councillors in England. Streeting and a handful of junior ministers resigned in the aftermath.
Meanwhile, Burnham used the programme to criticise Nigel Farage’s response to the Henry Nowak case, warning that the Reform leader’s appeal to “pure, cold rage” echoed US politics and should be avoided in Britain. Reform candidate Robert Kenyon struggled to land blows, at one point laughed at by the audience when he said the party’s policy of hiring 30,000 new police officers was beyond his comprehension as a local candidate.
If Starmer is ousted, the consequences could reach far beyond leadership. Pro-drilling Labour MPs believe a change at the top would break Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s grip on North Sea policy and reverse the ban on new oil and gas exploration licences. Both Burnham and Streeting have suggested they would be open to new drilling, raising the stakes for a contest that, just months ago, seemed unthinkable.