Scarborough MP stays tight-lipped on Labour leadership race

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Alison Hume, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, refused to be drawn on whom she would back in a potential leadership contest, should Andy Burnham win the Makerfield by-election and challenge Keir Starmer.

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She added that the prime minister had her full support.

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Appearing on a BBC Question Time special on Thursday, the mayor of Greater Manchester said he would seek to enter any potential Labour leadership contest if he wins the by-election on June 18.

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Ms Hume, who was first elected in 2024, remained tight-lipped on the party’s leadership crisis which intensified after almost 100 MPs called on the prime minister to resign following major losses in May’s local elections.

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Asked who she would back in a potential leadership contest, she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “No comment. There is no leadership challenge at the moment, and the prime minister continues to have my full support.”

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Labour MPs have been asked to campaign twice in the by-election, as well as on polling day.

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Mayor Andy Burnham At Scarborough Cricket Club. Courtesy Anttoni James Numminen

Ms Hume told the LDRS she had not yet been canvassing in Makerfield, adding: “As with all by-elections, I’ll be supporting [the candidate], and probably go on polling day.”

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This week, multiple Labour backbenchers loyal to the PM told PoliticsHome that they would defy instructions to campaign twice in the constituency.

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Rachael Maskell, the MP for York, has backed Andy Burnham to replace Keir Starmer as the Labour leader and said he would bring hope if he entered Number 10.

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Ms Hume also declined to comment on whether the York MP was right to say the current mayor of Greater Manchester should replace Mr Starmer.

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Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said a leadership contest had not been triggered but “the prime minister has been absolutely crystal clear that if there is a contest he will be in it”.

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A Survation opinion poll (June 4) on the by-election put Andy Burnham ahead at 49 per cent, Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon on 39 per cent, Restore Britain’s Rebecca Shepherd on 8 per cent, the Green Party’s Sarah Wakefield on 2 per cent, and both the Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin and The Conservatives’ Michael Winstanley on 1 per cent.

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