The Greater Manchester mayor insists he’s simply ‘launched a debate’
15:09, 30 Sep 2025Updated 17:16, 30 Sep 2025
Andy Burnham(Image: PA/M.E.N. )
Everyone is talking about Andy Burnham. Despite boasting unrivalled popularity, he has pi**ed off a lot people.
Keir Starmer is clearly unpopular and many in his party want to see a change – even if they won’t say so publicly. Mr Burnham is the most popular alternative, according to the polls, but he is not in a position to challenge him.
And yet, for the last few weeks, the Labour mayor seems to have been doing exactly that – challenging the leader.
The former MP and minister has been setting out his own policy platform in the build up to Labour Party conference in Liverpool this week, calling for changes to income tax, more council housing and reform of the voting system.
Sign up to the MEN Politics newsletter Due North here
Mr Burnham insists he has simply ‘launched a debate’, but he has refused to rule out a run for leader. Instead, he told a fringe event on Monday (September 29) he can’t run for leader because he is not an MP.
That hasn’t dampened rumours he is plotting a return to Parliament with several seats said to be ‘in play’.
The problem is, despite polls putting Mr Burnham way ahead of any other Labour figure, his popularity is waning.
Andy Burnham (Image: Getty Images)
Unsurprisingly, his recent interventions have soured relationships with No 10 and other government departments.
But backbenchers are ‘pi**ed off’ with the Labour mayor too, according to one MP who claims, by fuelling rumours he’s preparing to mount a leadership campaign, he has actually ‘united’ the parliamentary party against him.
Last week, he claimed MPs were privately urging him to challenge the PM.
Even those who support Mr Burnham and want him to become Prime Minister aren’t pleased with his performance, citing the feature interviews he gave to several publications in the weeks leading up to Labour’s party conference.
Some have described the mayor as appearing ‘desperate’, while others say he has simply ‘gone too soon’.
It seems that ordinary party members are going off Mr Burnham too as the mayor’s approval ratings within the party dropped nine points in the last month, according to a poll by Survation for LabourList – although it still stands at +69 compared to Sir Keir’s -11 net favourability.
Keir Starmer(Image: Getty Images)
Local leaders in Greater Manchester fear that they will pay the price for the mayor’s recent outbursts.
They are worried that the region will miss out on investment because No 10 won’t want to give Mr Burnham a ‘win’.
There are some exceptions though. At a fringe event that the Greater Manchester mayor had been due to speak at on Monday night (September 30), Neal Lawson, the director of soft left lobby group Compass, came to his defence.
“I was told to say something funny about why Andy Burnham isn’t here,” he told the audience.
“But I think it’s actually quite sad that we as a party can’t have a conversation about our party when it’s in such a perilous state without a kind of mania around it.”
Andy Burnham arrived at his first event on Monday in high spirits(Image: PA)
Mr Lawson, who has recently helped set up the Burnham-backed Mainstream group for ‘radical realists’, went on to describe the reaction to the mayor’s recent interventions as ‘hysteria’, calling for everyone to ‘calm down a bit’.
Nevertheless, the London-born Labour man has already nailed his colours to the mast, calling for Sir Keir to quit. Asked who should replace him, the answer was unequivocal.
“You know who my alternative is,” he responded furiously. “What are you asking the question for? You know who the alternative is.
“I’ve known Andy for 30 years and I have seen him develop, as I’ve developed as well and all of us have. I think he’s the best version of himself now as well.”
“I personally think he can lead our party and he can lead our country to defeat Farage,” he added.
“I would say at the moment, he’s by far the best possible person to lead our party and lead our country.”