Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has confirmed for the first time his intention to challenge Keir Starmer to be Britain’s prime minister, drawing immediate criticism from the prime minister who has vowed not to step down.
“If I have your support, I will seek to represent you at the highest possible level and give this constituency maximum power and influence,” Burnham said on an episode of the BBC programme. Question time. He cited the ambitions of his biggest rival, former Health Minister Wes Streeting, in explaining his own plans to seek his party’s leadership.
“I have to convince members of the parliamentary Labor Party,” he said on Thursday in the Makerfield constituency he was seeking to represent. “So that’s the only question.”
Starmer responded immediately through his spokesman, who said he would not give up his mandate and that the country wanted Labor to focus on governance, not internal debates.
A telephone poll of 518 people in the Makerfield constituency published by pollster Survey on Thursday evening showed Burnham with a 10-point lead over British Reform Party candidate Robert Kenyon.
Kenyon came under pressure during the Question Time debate over sexist comments he made on social media. Kenyon refused to apologize when asked about these statements, saying they were historical.
