By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR and GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 12:02 BST, 18 September 2025 | Updated: 12:02 BST, 18 September 2025
Sir Keir Starmer's woes deepened today as allies of Angela Rayner suggested she could make a political comeback alongside Andy Burnham. The Prime Minister has been in a tailspin since Ms Rayner quit as his deputy nearly a fortnight ago, admitting she had underpaid stamp duty on the purchase of a new flat.After a panicky reshuffle, Sir Keir then suffered further turmoil after he initially defended and later sacked Lord Mandelson over links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.MPs have since been openly warning that Sir Keir could be 'gone' after local elections in May, if they produce dismal results for Labour.There has also been mounting speculation that Mr Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, could be a potential replacement for the PM.One serving Cabinet minister last night backed Mr Burnham to make a return to Westminster as an MP, should he choose to do so.Ms Rayner has kept silent since her resignation earlier this month, but a friend told The Telegraph she was 'not daft' and 'knows how to make her career survive'.One MP also raised the prospect of Ms Rayner attempting a political comeback alongside Mr Burnham. Angela Rayner pictured out campaigning with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in March last year Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed US President Donald Trump to Britain this week amid growing speculation over his future in Downing Street'I do know that in the last year, there have been conversations between them,' they told the newspaper.'People suggest that Andy and her could run together, and she could be the deputy.'What we have to do as a party is to regain confidence in the north of England. Keir Starmer is never going to achieve that, and Andy could begin to pull it back.'Mr Burnham's term as Greater Manchester mayor will last until 2028 and, if he wants to succeed Sir Keir as Labour leader, he will first need to return to Westminster and become an MP.One Labour veteran told the Daily Mail that an alliance between Mr Burnham and Ms Rayner was 'extremely unlikely' to succeed.'She's going to lose her seat apart form anything else,' they said of the Ashton-under-Lyne MP, who won her seat with a 7,000-vote majority over Reform UK last year.'I don't think there is anything like as much love for Burnham in the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) as he thinks.'Mr Burnham last night received support from a serving Cabinet minister to make a return to Westminster.Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she 'loves' the Greater Manchester mayor and would support him 'whatever he decides to do'.Ms Nandy made the comments as she said she was supporting Lucy Powell, an ally of Mr Burnham, in the contest to replace Ms Rayner as Labour's deputy leader.She told LBC: 'I love Andy, and whatever he decides to do, I'll support him.'He's been a fantastic champion for the North, and whether he wants to do that as the mayor of Greater Manchester or as an MP, I think he's got an enormous contribution to make.'It came as Ms Powell launched a brutal attack on Sir Keir's 'mistakes' and 'unforced errors', and hit out at 'sexist' claims she is a proxy for Mr Burnham.She is vying against Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, to replace Ms Rayner as Labour's new deputy leader.Ms Powell told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast: 'Some of the mistakes that we've made, or some of the unforced errors, have given a sense that we're not on the side of ordinary people.'She was sacked in Sir Keir's reshuffle this month, and said it may have been due to the 'feedback' she had given the Cabinet from Labour MPs on issues including welfare reform.She said: 'I thought I was doing the job I was supposed to be doing, but maybe that wasn't feedback people wanted to hear.'Freed from Cabinet collective responsibility, the ex-Commons Leader urged the Government to be 'clearer' about wanting to scrap the two-child benefit cap - a significant issue for many Labour backbenchers.
