He’s finally confirmed it.
On a special by-election edition of Question Time last night, Andy Burnham said that if he wins Makerfield, he’ll challenge Sir Keir Starmer for his job as Prime Minister.
Burnham looked tired, slightly subdued, clearly trying to play down jibes one hears on the streets of Makerfield that he’s “cocky”, that this by-election is unnecessary and “all about Andy” and his ambitions. Burnham’s words were deliberate and cleverly crafted: “I’ll seek to represent you at the highest level,” he told the BBC audience of Makerfield voters.
I hate it when journalists hype up elections. But I can’t think of a by-election in a hundred years that’s been more momentous. This contest in a seat which straddles the M6, half way between Liverpool and Manchester, is the most important in modern history.
If Andy Burnham wins, he’ll have demonstrated he can beat Nigel Farage in what was Reform’s 40th best seat, where Reform got a full slate of councillors last month. Burnham would give Labour the “verve” which Peter Mandelson had said Starmer lacks, and an undoubted boost in the polls.
