Andy Burnham has plan to return to Westminster ‘within weeks’. Allies sayGreater Manchester mayor said to have identified seats where MPs would step aside to allow leadership bid.

So you want to think....there is a lot of time before the next GE.

Galaxy

Or he may know that Starmer has agreed to go. He will certainly know that he who wields the sword rarely wears the crown.

I think those that wielded the sword against May, Boris, Truss and Sunak, in lamentable quick succession, did get to wear the crown- if only for 49 days in Liz Truss's case 🥬

I think taking the Govt. should stop bailing out Thames water, allow them to go bankrupt and take them back under state control, then use the bail out money to start improving the infrastructure. Then shout about it loud and clear. it would send a message to the other water companies that the gravy train is no longer to be tolerated.
I do thin it would be a popular move with the public, but I doubt it will happen if Starmer remains.

No contenders making any moves so far against Starmer.

Labour losses were predicted and the results, so far at least are not as bad as predicted. That could be a reason why.

Prof John Curtice and Michael Thrasher both predicted Labour losses of 1,800 to 2,000 but this morning Curtice has revised his previous prediction downwards to 1,200.

LemonJam

No contenders making any moves so far against Starmer.

Labour losses were predicted and the results, so far at least are not as bad as predicted. That could be a reason why.

Prof John Curtice and Michael Thrasher both predicted Labour losses of 1,800 to 2,000 but this morning Curtice has revised his previous prediction downwards to 1,200.

It will be interesting to see what the actual outcome in terms of power will be. So far, it's difficult to know in some places, but it looks as though a lot of councils are going to end up with no overall control. Reform will be in control of Essex County Council, but they're taking over from a Conservative majority. Labour had nothing to lose in Essex. At least Essex residents will know whom to blame for their potholes!

Starmer will go down with the ship.
What is the point of another martyr to a lost cause ie Burnham.

That's a bit dramatic Boz 🤷‍♀️

Martyr- literally a person who suffers persecution, great pain or death rather than renounce their religious beliefs or strongly held cause- or in politics- a political figure who dies for their beliefs such as a protester or leader killed for their cause. Martin Luther King maybe- but Burnham, or any other contender- hardly.

Burnham will only consider giving up his mayorship if he thinks he can step straight into being leader and that he won’t end up in opposition. I don’t think his political ambitions are for the good of the party or the country but purely about him.

I think Burnham does want to be an MP and does want to return to front benches. Ideally he would no doubt like to fulfil his PM ambitions but it is not a linear, quick course. I don't agree he will only give up his mayorship if he can step straight into being PM. That is just not possible.

Once he is allowed to stand as an MP and then puts himself forward for the seat to be elected in a bye election, he necessarily has by consequence, left his Mayoral role. It has been reported he has someone ready, poised to take his place, for the rest of his Mayoral election term.

He's not being coy- he's being open about his intention to return to an MP role. He already has front bench government experience.

There is no guarantee though, it’s fine to have an ambition to return to be an MP, but there are no guarantees of success in an election to be Labour Party leader, or even to return to a cabinet role, that would be a leap of faith on his part, because he is certainly not universally popular, so there will be opposition, as there is in any leadership election.

LemonJam, I’m guessing, maybe incorrectly, you. Might be a Gtr Manchester resident like me. I m also aLP member, met Andy and saw him at Nustings in his previous leadership campaigns,
My view is he’s grown in stature and experience since then. We need him in Westminster and he’d be my top choice as leader

Why bring Angela Raynor in !Burnham seems ok If Starmer appoints people who fail security checks for good reasons It's possible Burnham might be a better choice he seems more aware than Starmer

Unfortunately Starmer is proving to be very unpopular so Burnham might be the only one who can save the Labour Party from sinking and becoming a minor political party.

Quote MayBee70 Fri 08-May-26 19:11:05
Burnham will only consider giving up his mayorship if he thinks he can step straight into being leader and that he won’t end up in opposition. I don’t think his political ambitions are for the good of the party or the country but purely about him.

I so agree, I am rather shocked by his openly desire to be Labour leader

I don't know if it's personal ambition or a genuine desire to bring the Labour Party to the right directions?

But Starmer was equally determined to be leader and equally determined to be PM, and in order to do that he sacrificed quite a few people in the labour party to achieve that.

Casdon yes I know about this but I was talking about the pre-Blair period when John Major pushed the sale of British Rail through (and sold shares too cheaply.

I think they knew they were likely to lose the election but by breaking BR into over 100 separate companies (track, rolling stock, and franchises) and then signing long-term contracts, they made renationalisation difficult (and expensive) for a future government to undo. I don't think it was the collapse of the infrastructure that made ig impossible but the deliberately messy way the Tories chopped it up.

After the Hatfield rail crash Labour did replace Railtrack with Network Rail of course, because that wasn't broken into lots of pieces.

I wasn't blaming Labour upthread. I did blame Blair at the time because, as I said upthread, I thought he was moving too far to the right...
but I still feel that selling off of assets is almost always going to be a bad thing.
Water,
Rail
Housing,
Energy...

Of course we also made the wrong choices re oil in the 1970s/80s, The UK and Norway took diametrically opposed paths and now they are reaping the rewards. Thatcher made tax cuts - Norway developed a massive Pension Fund - now worth £1.2 trillion.

Let's hope we come back to fund development of renewable energy. We started off very well with this until the funding of researchin the field started to dtop off. ... 🤞

20 Lab MPs calling for Starmer's head according to BBC Just who do they think is going to replace him who might do better I wonder? What exactly is it that they want?
Local elections mid term always produce anti government results ... which is a huge pity as people would get better local services if they voted for the person who is most likely to be their best representative on the ground.
Throwing toys out of the pram when this happens is madness and disrupts the government from progressing their policies with things half done.
If Starmer goes down, those Lab MP s responsible will have inflated Farage's ego beyond reason. This guy, who started off playing at politics will actually begin to think he is a real politician. He will be the "man who has outgrown his own shoes and is feeling the pinch."
What seriously frightens me is that fellow country people have started to throw away our values: kindness respect for others, thoughtful reflection on important matters, humanity. Reform loves putting labels on people when in the main we are all the same under the skin.
I am agnostic but do commend the new Archbishop for holding onto those values and standing up for them.

Galaxy

But Starmer was equally determined to be leader and equally determined to be PM, and in order to do that he sacrificed quite a few people in the labour party to achieve that.

Burnham chose to no longer be an MP because he found a better gig and was probably disgruntled at not being chosen twice to be party leader. It was Keir that put all the hard work into getting Labour elected. Burnham has done nothing but snipe at the sidelines and try to undermine the PM’s authority since the election. He would not be trying to be an MP again if Labour were still in opposition. Imo.

This from the BBC which gives a bot of perspective ...

Or even a bit .....

FriedGreenTomatoes2

It won't matter who Labour have as PM, they're finished.

They are definitely disappearing with Sir Keir.

I so agree, I am rather shocked by his openly desire to be Labour leader

I do think, if you are a Leader type of person, and you think you can do a better job, then I wouldnt blame a person for that.

Allira

Unfortunately Starmer is proving to be very unpopular so Burnham might be the only one who can save the Labour Party from sinking and becoming a minor political party.

What a damning indictment of the Labour Party when out of 400 plus MPs there isn't a competent replacement for Starmer. I agree with MayBee70 that Burnham is only in it for his own ends.

Yvette Cooper?

Looks like the only credible candidate to me if they insist on making a change.