‘Frustrated’ Labour left supposedly plan to challenge Burnham

Officially, Andy Burnham is running to be the MP for Makerfield. Unofficially, he’s running to replace Keir Starmer as the prime minister.

The problem is we don’t have a good idea of how Burnham will govern in office; the other problem is the signs are pointing towards him being Starmer 2.0.

As a result of this, some of Labour’s left-leaning MPs are talking up the idea of a challenge. As we’ll get into, however, Burnham probably doesn’t have much to worry about.

Vanishing Manchesterism

The Times‘ assistant political editor Geri Scott has reported:

Left-wing MPs are considering standing a candidate against Andy Burnham in a future Labour leadership contest because of concerns the Greater Manchester mayor could abandon progressive positions to broaden his appeal.

We’ll be honest, it’s a bit late to be saying “could abandon” at this point. As we’ve reported:

• Burnham ‘to support’ Mahmood’s racist immigration changes;
• Burnham is silent on wealth taxes – not a promising sign from potential PM;
• Andy Burnham’s role with Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank just shows he’s more of the same;
• Burnham WON’T back proportional representation this parliament;
• Shapeshifting Burnham ditches trans rights to panic-grab Reform votes.

Scott added:

The Times has been told they do not want Burnham to be treated as the automatic standard-bearer for the left of the party.

Some MPs on the hard left have complained that Burnham has fallen in behind immigration reforms proposed by Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, and backed government guidance on single-sex spaces.

‘Hard left’ is full-on Communism, and there aren’t any Communists in the Labour Party. That aside, here’s what one of these anonymous politicians said:

A lot of us are increasingly frustrated that he’s being portrayed as the saviour of the left when he’s nothing of the sort. There have been discussions about whether we put up a candidate to try to force him into more progressive positions.

Another noted:

It will be difficult for the supposed supporters of Andy to back him for leader if he keeps offering something on a Monday then changing his mind on Tuesday. His immigration stance and the possible inclusion of Wes [Streeting] as his chancellor will be a problem.

These points are fair enough, but the Labour left does have a reputation for backing down. If they weren’t willing to compromise their beliefs, they wouldn’t be in the Labour Party.

There’s also this to consider:

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Find this odd really. If the candidate is from the SCG wing of the party they simply wouldn’t have the numbers…?

No one from the soft left would stand against him so I don’t know why it’s being floated or why it’s being given air time? https://t.co/vVliPTpgW5

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— Matthew (@MatthewTorbitt) May 25, 2026

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I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago (before Burnham had got a seat) for @NewStatesman. From my conversations the SCG was always planning to run a candidate – as they did in dep leadership – in order to push the main contenders from the left. But think there’s a clear… https://t.co/x93lIO19cr

— megan kenyon (@meganekenyon) May 25, 2026

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Mainstream

The Times reported that “mooted” candidates include:

Richard Burgon, the MP for Leeds East and a former Corbynite frontbencher. Other names include Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Olivia Blake and Clive Lewis.

As the outlet notes, however, none of these people have expressed any intention of standing. Another source said Labour MPs will actively repel any of the above, noting that the issue is:

not that someone like Burgon wins, it’s that the whole debate shifts on to his territory. If Andy is forced to spend six weeks talking about Gaza, then he comes out of it weaker and the party looks like it has learnt nothing.

Labour would only look like it’s learned nothing if it does in fact learn nothing. The solution to this is to learn from Keir Starmer’s mistakes, and to support a free and independent Palestine.

The Times also reported that:

members of Mainstream, the group seen as an incubator for Burnham’s Westminster ambitions, have become irritated with Tribune, the soft-left group whose members are part of Burnham’s campaign team. Some allies of Burnham have accused Tribune figures of “taking over” his campaign.

Clive Lewis is a member of Mainstream, and he’s previously served as one of Burnham’s biggest cheerleaders. Speaking in September 2025, Lewis said:

In this hollowing-out of govt, we face the danger of a politics so cowed by vested interests that it cannot stand up to them. And when that happens, it is the authoritarian right who reap the rewards.

People aren’t fooled. They can feel the country is being run for “them” not “us.” And unless Labour changes course – embracing pluralism, democracy and genuine debate – it will deliver power straight into Farage and Trump’s waiting hands.

Perhaps we’re in need of a bit of ‘Manchesterism’ – a different way of doing govt and one not afraid of giving control of public services to the very people that use and run them; Us!

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On 23 May, however, he reposted the following:

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This is a very small sample but it's a very scary level of support for the far right and much closer than I was expecting. I would say this, obviously, but I really don't think Burnham's 'Oh, no, I didn't mean nationalisation – why would you think THAT?' is helping anything. https://t.co/6BZZCunPOx

— Jeremy Gilbert (@jemgilbert) May 23, 2026

If Lewis is making his thoughts clear online, it seems likely that Burnham isn’t listening to him offline.

Little opposition

According to Scott, another anonymous Labour insider said:

A candidate like that wouldn’t reach the threshold for nominations. Quite a lot of their colleagues have been out on the campaign trail over the weekend and seem very excited about the prospect of Andy.

If there is going to be serious opposition to Burnham’s flip-flopping, it’s not going to come from the Labour Party. We’re also not seeing much from the Greens. Let’s hope that changes with the announcement of their new candidate:

Featured image via Ian Forsyth (Getty Images) / Leon Neal (Getty Images) / Peter Summers (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

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