LONDON – Labour rebels plotting to topple Sir Keir Starmer say they are on the brink of a major breakthrough.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is poised to secure a deal to fight a by-election to return to the Commons and mount a leadership challenge, his allies have told The Mail on Sunday.
Burnham has made little secret of his ambition to take the top job, and now his Commons allies say they have found a seat which is ‘likely to come free’ in the coming months – and which the so-called King Of The North should win, polls suggest.
Strategists working for the prime Minister’s arch rival have drawn up a shortlist of potential target seats in the North West, including the Greater Manchester seat currently held by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne.
Gwynne denies he plans to stand down to allow Burnham to run in his seat. But he has been suspended from the Labour Party since February following The Mail on Sunday’s revelations that he sent racist and sexist WhatsApp messages – and is not expected to resume his Westminster career.
On Saturday, a Labour MP who backs Burnham said: ‘‘It’s happening. We are on the brink of securing a seat which is likely to come free shortly and where the polls say Andy would beat Reform.’’
The claim comes amid mounting pressure on Sir Keir. With Labour languishing in the polls, both Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner, the former Deputy Prime Minister, are rumoured to be preparing challenges for his job.
Under the Burnham leadership plan, the mayor would apply for selection in a seat made vacant for him, with the by-election held on or before the elections for local councils and devolved parliaments in May.
Those elections are expected to be so disastrous for the party that Sir Keir is likely to face a challenge to his leadership within weeks.
The prime minister could block Burnham’s selection through the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) but to do so would be seen as a humiliating admission of weakness.
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