Andy Burnham Calls Labour Leadership Rumours Rubbish

Andy Burnham has described reports he wants to become an MP again before May as “rubbish”.

However, Labour MPs are convinced the Manchester mayor is eyeing a speedy return to Westminster so he can be in position to run for the party leadership if Keir Starmer is ousted.

Voters will go to the polls on May 7 next year for elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and councils across England.

Opinion polls suggest Labour is heading for a catastrophic result, which could trigger a leadership challenge to the prime minister.

Burnham, who quit Westminster in 2017 so he could run to become mayor of Greater Manchester, would need to be an MP again to stand for the top job.

He was accused of plotting to replace the PM during the Labour conference in September, when he made a number of criticisms of the party leadership.

According to newspaper reports today, Burnham has held talks about standing in a by-election before May.

Although Burnham passed up the opportunity to comment before the stories were published in the Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday, he did post a reaction on X this morning.

He said: “Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place.”

But one of his supporters told the Mail on Sunday: “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.”

It is understood that would most likely be the Gorton and Denton seat currently held by former minister Andrew Gwynne, who was suspended by Labour in February over offensive messages he sent WhatsApp messages and is currently on long-term sick leave.

In a statement to The Times in September, Gwynne said: “In order to end the tedious speculation about my seat while I’m trying to recover from a period of ill health, it is my intention to serve the full term.

“The route to No 10 is not going to be through Gorton and Denton.”

But one MP told HuffPost UK: “Andy is gagging for a seat before May. Why wouldn’t he be? He knows that he needs to be ready in parliament for the local election results in May. Andrew Gwynne’s is the seat he will go for.”

A former Labour frontbencher said: “Burnham has spoken to other MPs who might fancy going but hasn’t been able to get a deal.”

Gwynne is thought to be coming under pressure from senior Labour figures in his constituency to stand down to make way for Burnham, but it will ultimately be up to government chief whip Jonathan Reynolds to authorise a by-election.

Another MP said: “There’s a significant number of us livid that he’s undermining the PM at every turn. He’s overestimating his support at Westminster.

“If he wanted to stand for parliament, he had an opportunity last year to run at the general election.

“We also can’t afford to have a mayoral by-election at the same time as he purports to want to have a leadership contest at the very top of the party during the course of summer 2026. It’s incredible.”

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said Labour politicians should “focus on the day job” of delivering for the public rather than indulging in leadership speculation.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think that all of us in Government and in the Labour Party have a responsibility to focus on the day job and to get on with delivering for the British people.

“I was on your show just a few weeks ago, and I made this point that every single minute you have in government is precious, and it’s a huge privilege and an honour to be the government of your country, and we mustn’t waste a single second of it.

“So actually, this is on the whole of the government and all of the parliamentary Labour Party and the whole Labour movement to make sure we don’t waste a single second of the time that we have in government.”