Before he even entered the race, Andy Burnham was in favor of ousting Keir Starmer as British prime minister.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester led the polls and was the front runner among the illegals and Polymarket. Late on Thursday, a major hurdle was lifted: Labor MP Josh Simons withdrew from the House of Commons, paving the way for Burnham to win a seat in Parliament, a demanding job.
Arriving in London this week as the Starmer government falters, Burnham has kept a low profile, meeting with insiders – MPs, union leaders and National Central Committee members – whose support she would need for a successful leadership bid. Yet it was his status as a supporter outside Westminster that many party supporters saw as making him more likely to turn the tide against populist leader Nigel Farage.
“People are struggling and they need a Labor Government to succeed,” Burnham, known as the “King of the North” by local media, said in a statement without announcing his intention to take on Starmer. “We owe it to the people to come back together as a Labor movement, and give the prime minister and government the space and stability they need when the by-election takes place.”
Starmer has vowed to fight off any challenge, which was launched by Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary but has yet to announce his leadership campaign. It could also include his former deputy, Angela Rayner. “I take responsibility not to leave, not to plunge our country into chaos, as the Tories have done, time and time again,” he said on Monday. “The Labor Government will not be forgiven for hurting our country again.”
For his part, Burnham finding his way into the Westminster bubble after nine years in Manchester was experimenting with the political moves that have made Labor a victim of more than two decades of shifting winds.
