Starmer leadership rival Burnham blocked from seeking UK parliamentary return

British Labour Party politician Andy Burnham, regarded as a potential leadership rival to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was on Sunday blocked from trying to return to parliament by Labour’s governing body, local media reported.

Burnham, one of the party’s most high-profile politicians and an elected mayor in the northern English city of Manchester, said on Saturday he wanted to become Labour’s candidate to replace a lawmaker who resigned last week.

But local news outlets, including the BBC and the Guardian newspaper, reported that he was refused permission by Labour’s National Executive Committee which is made up of lawmakers, trade union representatives and local-level party officials.

The NEC decision will fuel discontent in a governing party whose popularity has plummeted since a landslide election win in July 2024 as Starmer has struggled to deliver on promises of a stronger economy, better public services and tighter borders.

Last week, bond markets reacted negatively to the prospect of Burnham’s return to parliament, with some investors taking a view that it could trigger political turmoil and, if he did eventually replace Starmer, a looser fiscal policy.