Starmer Allies Draw Labour Fury Amid Claims They May Block Burnham Running To Be An MP
Speculation Keir Starmer’s allies could block Andy Burnham running to be an MP has sparked intense backlash from some Labour figures.
A by-election for Gorton and Denton will be held in the coming months following Andrew Gwynne MP’s decision to quit parliament on health grounds.
While Burnham’s team has not confirmed it, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester and keen Starmer critic is widely expected to throw his hat into the ring and try to secure a seat in the Commons.
It is up to Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), to draw up a shortlist of candidates to represent Labour in Gorton and Denton.
But, senior Labour figures told HuffPost UK that there is “zero” chance the NEC will shortlist Burnham as the Labour candidate for the by-election.
One MP said: “If Andy Burnham thinks this is his opportunity to somehow come to the rescue of the Labour government, he needs to have another think.
“What we don’t need is the Labour Party to descend into a circus of a leadership contest, which would string out over the next few months.”
Insiders have warned that Burnham would trigger a by-election in Greater Manchester if he were selected, claiming it would be “massively selfish of him to implode the national campaign”.
The Guardian reported that Starmer’s allies have even launched a “Stop Andy Burnham” campaign, meant to prevent the senior Labour figure returning to the Commons, where he served as the MP for Leigh between 2001 and 2017.
The idea the PM’s allies could disrupt that process has been met with disdain in some quarters.
The new leftwing general secretary of Unison, Andrea Egan, wrote on social media: “I’m sure all trade unionists expect a democratic process for Gorton & Denton in which local party members decide who they want to represent them.
“We’ve seen enough control-freakery in the Labour Party and it has done our movement nothing but harm.”
Egan is the new general secretary of Unison, a union is affiliated to Labour and has two seats on the NEC.
Meanwhile, Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw who leads the Red Wall caucus within parliament, was equally disparaging.
She said: “Let the North decide who their Labour candidate should be for the Gorton and Denton by-election.
“A London stitch-up will be a disaster for Labour.”
Fellow Labour backbencher, the MP for Crewe and Nantwich Connor Naismith, also said: “Gorton and Denton deserves the best possible choice of candidates.
“I agree with the prime minister that our attention should be on delivering for the public, not speculating about future leadership contests. Any decision made to limit the choice would be wrong.”
it comes after Starmer refused to say if he would back Burnham as a candidate.
He said: “It is a very early stage, and the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party will set out the process in the usual way, as it always does for by-elections.
“Andy Burnham is doing an excellent job as mayor of Manchester. We work very closely together.
“Last year, we were responding together to the terrible attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
“More recently, we were working together on Northern Powerhouse Rail.
“I think Andy would acknowledge that working with this government has been much better than the experience he had of working with previous governments.”
Meanwhile, health and social care minister Stephen Kinnock told Times Radio on Friday: “Andy’s got huge strengths, and is an incredibly talented member of the Labour team. I think we’ve seen the work he’s done on re-industrialisation, on homelessness. He worked very, very closely with Keir and the Cabinet on the awful events around the shooting at the synagogue. He’s a very talented and high profile member of our team.”
But when asked if Burnham would make a good MP, Kinnock said: “Well I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves a bit because we don’t even know if Andy has any plans to throw his hat into the ring.”