Politics Home Article | Tribune MPs Ready To Fight For Burnham Inclusion If Streeting Runs

31 March 2026 Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester outside Downing Street, London (Alamy)

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Health Secretary Wes Streeting has reportedly told allies that he is preparing to resign from government and announce his leadership challenge on Thursday.

As a mayor and not an MP, Burnham would not be eligible to participate in a leadership race held so quickly. But PoliticsHome understands that senior soft left figures would nonetheless stick with their priority of allowing Burnham to run, instead of turning to Angela Rayner as their candidate.

For it to unfold in this way, a sitting Labour MP would have to stand down, triggering a by-election, then Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) would have to allow Burnham to seek selection as the parliamentary candidate, and he would have to win the seat – all before MP nominations opened.

“The NEC decides the timetable so Wes triggering doesn’t stop Andy contesting. It would be outrageous for them to try and block the most popular politician in the country from standing,” a senior Burnham-backing Labour MP said.

Rayner was forced to resign as deputy prime minister last year over a tax scandal, and the HMRC investigation into her unpaid stamp duty has still not concluded, to the knowledge of reporters. Her favourability as a leadership contender has declined dramatically over recent months.

“I don’t think there are many Ange fans around now,” one Labour MP concluded.

With all 11 of Labour’s affiliated trade unions signing a joint statement that agreed Keir Starmer would “not lead Labour into the next election” and that backed a leadership election “at some stage”, some Burnham supporters hope the NEC would be more likely to allow Burnham to stand for Parliament.

The mayor was blocked in January from running as the Labour candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, after a core group NEC officers refused to give him permission to stand.

A government source told PoliticsHome: “There has been a noticeable shift in the attitudes of the officers of the NEC towards Andy. There is no complacency – the work has been done – but the current political situation has fundamentally changed since January.”

A well-placed source has told PoliticsHome that Ellie Reeves, the solicitor general and an NEC officer, was in favour last time of the decision going to a meeting of the full NEC – a body of almost 40 members, rather than the smaller officers group of 10.

Burnham supporters hope the full NEC would be more supportive of accommodating his inclusion in any Labour leadership contest.

“The pressure to take this out of officers and to full NEC would be quite significant now, and that’s where I could see it going the other way,” said one NEC member, who does not plan to back Burnham.

Allies of Burnham have also been floating the acronym ABC – “Andy By Conference” – as a potential timetable. This would be too slow for many Labour MPs who want a race concluded as quickly as possible, however.

Burnham supporters have claimed repeatedly that he has found a winnable seat and is preparing to run for Parliament.

MPs in the North West who have denied they are willing to step aside for Burnham include Afzal Khan in Manchester Rusholme; Peter Dowd in Bootle; Marie Rimmer in St Helens; Dan Carden in Liverpool Walton; and Paula Barker in Liverpool Wavertree.

One soft left MP told PoliticsHome: “Regardless of whether Keir stays or goes right now, I think the case for Andy to be allowed to return is now undeniable.”

Another MP from the Tribune group said: “It would be a very odd scenario holding a by-election in these circumstances but I feel momentum is with him.”

Almost 100 Labour MPs have now called on the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure after last week’s local election results, with four ministers resigning.