Allies of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have warned against a 'coronation' of Wes Streeting as the next prime minister and called on Labour's ruling body to allow Burnham to stand for the leadership. As Keir Starmer faced mounting calls for his resignation, sources close to Burnham demanded immediate assurances from Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) that he would not be blocked from contesting a parliamentary by-election.
However, Burnham's hopes of returning to Westminster were dealt a blow as Marie Rimmer, the MP for St Helens South and Whiston, said she would not stand down and backed Starmer to stay in office. Rimmer, who has been an MP since 2015, stated: 'I'm not planning to stand down for anybody. I was selected by my constituency party and it's my constituency party who decides who stands. I've not spoken to Andy Burnham in years and neither has he spoken to me.'
Allies of Burnham said the two had spoken recently, but Rimmer denied this as 'completely untrue'. Rimmer, 78, said she had experienced ill health but had not stopped working and had not held any conversations with the Labour party about her future. She said she did not believe Starmer should stand down as prime minister, calling the speculation 'chaos' and 'a nonsense'.
More than 80 MPs have called on Starmer to quit after dire local and devolved election results. Writing in the Guardian, one of Burnham's closest allies, Neal Lawson, said only 10 people stood in the former Labour MP's way: the officers' group of the NEC, which blocked Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election. He called for an urgent statement from the NEC allowing Burnham to contest any direct vacancy.
Another close ally of Burnham expressed frustration at what they saw as Streeting's attempts to engineer a rapid succession, saying: 'We can't afford a coronation from Keir to Wes or whatever – that's not going to cut it with the country.' Sources on Labour's ruling NEC suggested they could take a different course next time, with one saying the officers' group could move if there was clearly a question mark over political authority.
