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On the eve of a by-election that could sound the death knell for his political career, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on. From the G7 summit in France, the Prime Minister made a few last-ditch attempts to try to put Andy Burnham off plunging the knife into his back a little while longer.
On one side are the Burnham loyalists, exuding confidence with a hint of cockiness. On the other are Starmer loyalists
One was the promise of a ‘big role in government’. The other was a reminder that Labour is about to be pulled into a high-stakes fight for the Manchester mayoralty. Sir Keir’s team are determined to delay a challenge so they can put as many hurdles in Burnham’s way as possible. They are desperate to maximise the time for scrutiny of his ideas – and to present opportunities for him to mess up.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Andy is a great asset. And, yes, I want him to have a big role in government.’ But he added: ‘We’re immediately tipped into a Manchester mayoral contest by-election, one of the biggest by-elections that we’ve ever fought, because of the scale of it. And it’s really important to my mind that the whole of the Labour party and Labour movement focuses on that, which is the next most immediate task.’
