Labour MP Threatens Leadership Challenge Against Starmer, Burnham Backers Push Alternative

A Labour MP has issued the first explicit threat of a leadership challenge against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, though the danger it poses remains unclear.

"Many have lost their social circle in their patch. Dear friends, who have worked incredibly hard as councillors, who have been thrown out and it's not their fault," one MP said.

A veteran Labour figure said, "Basically nobody beats Andy Burnham. So if you want anyone other than Andy you need this to happen sooner rather than later."

One MP from the 2024 intake called it "ego over country." "It's self-centred. If you want it to be better then get stuck in. We're in government, this isn't a game," they added.

Another veteran MP said, "I take a day off and all hell kicks off. It's all a bit of a fiasco. People are disorientated, cheesed off and fed up. There is a general view that in time Keir will have to go, but we don't want blood on the walls. Let's give it time, and give it time for Andy Burnham to come back."

Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, is not an MP, which bars him from any leadership contest. The party blocked him from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, fearing he would launch a leadership bid if he won. The Greens then defeated Labour in that seat.

Burnham's supporters reason as follows. Around 20 of them have publicly called for Sir Keir to announce a timetable for his departure, while a further 10 MPs just want him to go. If he does so, the party's ruling national executive would no longer block Burnham from returning to Westminster, since there would be no leadership challenge to a soon-departing Sir Keir. They hope enough MPs could "live with" Burnham to avoid a messy contest altogether, allowing him to move into No. 10 as Sir Keir moves out.

But if West provokes a contest now, that rules Burnham out. Some of his supporters have tried, so far without success, to persuade her to abandon her plan and adopt theirs instead.