Burnham says by-election bid was not an attempt to ‘undermine’ Starmer

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has said he did not want to “undermine” Sir Keir Starmer’s authority by seeking to stand in a parliamentary by-election, and called out the Westminster culture of anonymous briefings against politicians.

Mr Burnham was blocked at the weekend from standing in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election by a 10-strong grouping on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), which included the Prime Minister.

The costs of running a new mayoral election in Greater Manchester, and the worry that Reform could win the mayoralty, were cited as reasons for blocking Mr Burnham.

In the aftermath of the decision, there were briefings that Mr Burnham had been told in advance that he would be blocked from standing should he apply.

But both Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Burnham denied this was the case, and spoke to each other on Monday to clear the air.

Speaking during a phone-in on BBC Radio Manchester, Mr Burnham said: “I did ask to speak to the Prime Minister, because I wanted to assure him of something I put in the letter that supported my application, and it was that I wasn’t coming in to undermine him or the Government.

“I was coming in to see if I could contribute, because some of the things I know are holding Greater Manchester back are problems at that level.”

Asked for his thoughts on the conversation he and the PM had on Monday, Mr Burnham said: “It was a fair exchange, but we both said how we how we felt, and I was glad to have that conversation and a chance to say how I felt.”

Mr Burnham said he believed his candidacy would have “created a more positive path for everybody, including the Prime Minister, including the Government”.

He then criticised the culture of anonymous briefings in Westminster, telling the BBC that “anybody paid by the public purse does not get licence to lie”.

He said: “There are always in politics – I saw it around Tony Blair, I saw it around Gordon Brown, I saw it around the Conservative prime ministers from the 2010s onwards – where some people just think they can say what they like to the media.

“And why do they do it? You’re asking me – they do it to denigrate the character, impugn the integrity of elected politicians.”

He then pointed to recent briefing against Health Secretary Wes Streeting, sparked by suggestions he could be a challenger to Sir Keir’s authority, which he described as “almost like the stock-in-trade of Westminster”.

Since the resignation of former MP Andrew Gwynne last week, speculation has mounted that Reform could win Gorton and Denton, a seat Labour retained with 51% of the vote in 2024.

The Greens, meanwhile, have sought to portray themselves as the main option for voters wanting to stop Reform, as leader Zack Polanski seeks to supplant Labour.

Mr Burnham claimed he would have been the best candidate to succeed against the challenge posed by Reform.

“I believed I was probably in a better position than anybody to fight back against that,” he told the BBC.

During the phone-in, Mr Burnham also spoke to several members of the public who raised concerns he was no longer fully-focused on his duties as mayor.

He said he recognised their strength of feeling, but added “hopefully I’ve shown that I have not taken my bat and ball home”, pointing to a sports event in Oldham he attended on Monday.

As he travelled to China, Sir Keir said he had spoken to Mr Burnham on both Monday and Tuesday after the NEC decision, and praised him as an “excellent” mayor leading one of the UK’s “flagship devolution stories”.

A senior Conservative has denied that the Gorton and Denton by-election will be a two-horse race between Labour and Reform UK.

Shadow policing minister Matt Vickers told the Press Association: “We will be putting forward a fantastic local candidate, and we’ll be fighting for every vote.

“If people in that part of the world want stronger borders and a stronger economy and a leader with a backbone, they should be voting Conservative.

“We’re the guys who are on the side of those who work hard.”