Rattled Keir Starmer Blocks Andy Burnham’s Westminster Return: Leadership Rival Told He Cannot Fight By-Election
Keir Starmer’s allies fuelled Labour’s deepening civil war today as they blocked Andy Burnham from returning to Westminster and mounting a potential leadership challenge. The Mail has more.
The party’s ruling National Executive Committee voted 8-1 against letting the Greater Manchester mayor and self-styled “King of the North” stand in an upcoming by-election, after his 11th-hour declaration that he wants to fight it.
Mr Burnham last night said he wanted to quit as Mayor before the end of his term and try his luck in the Gorton and Denton seat being vacated by disgraced former minister Andrew Gwynne.
The former minister has been fuelling speculation for months that he wants to come back to run against Sir Keir for the party leadership and the keys to No10.
But he needed the permission of the Starmerite-dominated NEC Officers Committee, and this morning they heavily rejected his plea, ostensibly over the cost of electing a new mayor to replace him.
Only Lucy Powell, the former minister and Labour Deputy Leader – who is also a Manchester MP -–voted in favour of him running.
The Committee is led by Sir Keir’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who did not vote. Before the meeting she praised him as an ‘exceptional politician but told Sky News: “I don’t think the country would forgive us if we indulge in a psychodrama.”
However, senior figures like Ed Miliband and Sadiq Khan have backed Burnham and MPs went public to warn Keir and his allied to get out of the way.
The move to block him led to a fresh wave of anger from critics of the PM unhappy with how he has run the country in the past 18 months.
Andrea Egan, the new General Secretary of the Unison union, said: “I know many, many trade unionists will be so disappointed and angry at local members not being given a say over who their candidate should be. This isn’t the way any democratic organisation should be run.”
Before the announcement, Justin Madders, who was a minister until he was sacked by Sir Keir in a reshuffle last year, said: “The overriding consideration for the party should be who is best placed to win and represent the people of Gorton & Denton – no stitch ups, no second guessing what might happen down the line.
“We need our best players on the pitch and the PM needs the best serving in his Government.”
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: By blocking Burnham, Starmer has sealed his fate, says Tom Harris in the Telegraph.
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There’s a big risk that people will be fooled by a so-called moderate like Burnham. I’m sure he agrees with Starmer’s agenda.
Trust me, and I’m local, Burnham is a bloody nasty piece of work.
All he has to do is change his name and pronouns and he can stand. After all, Mr Harperson was elected without even that camouflage in a women-only seat!
Them Labourites do love their democracy
Protecting our “democracy” is a bit like Protecting our veterans. Erm… Just a minute…
Could he stand as an Independent and see what that does to the Labour vote?
“I don’t think the country would forgive us if we indulge in a psychodrama.”
We have already experienced Labour psychodramas. Another episode is neither here or there.
Exactly we are living through a continuous one, day to day…
Actually, I thought by the time it all unwound in the ruins of war and financial collapse that Burnham was the only member of the Blair/Brown cabinets to emerge with any credibility. Certainly a better Health Secretary than his Tory replacement (the one who signed off the then-called “Liverpool Care Pathway”, a system of state-sanctioned execution, later renamed and weaponised during the Hancock tenure).
Labour pleading poverty for a mayoral by-election as the reason for blocking Burnham from contesting the very seat vacated for him is a misnomer. They must be rolling in funds from money saved from the 29 cancelled council elections.
I guess the biggest smile today belongs to Streeting. With Burnham side-lined, the Machiavellian Prince’s path has one less obstacle to his ambition. Pity us.
I don’t see why the Foreign Aid budget cannot be re-purposed to accommodate our
democracyelections. It’s all wasted anyway now that they have decided to move in.Funny how Andrew Gwynne is “stepping down for health reasons”, according to msm reports, rather than for his hate speech (he must be thankful that he’s not “far right”, as he’d be serving time elsewhere).
He made some crass comments in what he thought would be a private forum. They may even possibly have been intended as exaggeration for effect/humour.
Thinking it would remain private makes him totally unsuited to being an MP.
Pension estimated at around £35 k pa. It might be more if he gets a top-up on ill-health grounds. Probably a lump sum on top.
And a quango to look forward to.
Nice.
What with the shenanigans of the Tories over the past 5 years and the same thing happening with the Commies the whole thing is resembling A Game of Thrones!
On a GBN report about this affair, one of the reasons given was the avoidance of another by-election – for the Greater Manchester Mayor job, with the expenses and distraction caused by that, with Burnham being only half way through.
Yeah. That and Labour could lose the Manchester mayorality and Gorton and Denton parliamentary seat.
Sounds like good news for Reform UK.
The best possible outcome would be a protracted, bitter internal war within the Labour Party, causing the party to fragment into small, mutually hostile factions.
Ideally the resulting factions would be just too small to win any elections.
Where’s the Popular Front?
He’s over there.
Splitter!
Well, apart from an obsessive desire for power, the left has no cohesive philosophy anyway, so let’s hope they rip each other to bits.
Hard to believe I know. But if bias Burnham became PM, he would be more left, radical and destructive than Barmy Starmer. Support from Sad iq and Ed Milibrain tells us what we need to know.
His position is to the left of Starmer but with more charm.
Labour doing what Labour does best: eating itself.
Reflecting its economic policies.
Until Burnham admits his part(along with many others) in the grooming gang cover up, the only place he should be standing ,is in a prison cell awaiting trial, vile person.