Labour erupts into civil war after Starmer allies block Burnham’s by-election bid
The Labour party was thrown into a civil war on Sunday after a group of Keir Starmer’s closest allies on the ruling committee blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the forthcoming by-election in the North West.
Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) voted in an eight to one ruling against Burnham on Sunday meaning the metro Mayor would not make the shortlist of candidates for the Gorton and Denton race. Sir Keir Starmer, who sits on the committee, personally voted to block Burnham.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who chairs the Labour Party’s NEC, abstained on the vote.
The move has ripped open the already-growing divides in the Labour party as Prime Minister Keir Starmer battles record low approval ratings amidst countless U-turns.
Burnham had already received the support of deputy leader of the party Lucy Powell and reports had suggested former deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner would throw her weight behind the self-styled ‘King of the North.’
Reacting to the decision, the Manchester Mayor said he was “disappointed… and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.”
He also took a swipe at the decision leaking before he had been informed.
“[It] tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days,” Burnham said.
John McDonnell, who served as shadow Chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party, said the decision was “disgusting”.
“Message to Keir: Do not underestimate the depth of anger people will feel about this disgusting decision. If you think it strengthens you I tell you it will simply hasten your demise,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rosie Duffield, who left the Labour party in 2024 to become an Independent, said it “highlights how loathed and weak Sir Keir is”.
Starmer ‘weak and scared’
Labour’s ruling committee framed the decision around avoiding “an unnecessary by-election” for the Greater Manchester mayoralty, which would have a “substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources”
The Conservative party’s shadow home secretary Chris Philip took the opportunity to take a swipe at Starmer, saying the Prime Minister was “so weak and scared he won’t even allow Andy Burnham to run for parliament”.
“Starmer is scared Burnham would replace him, so has used his control of the NEC to block him. To be fair, Burnham could hardly be worse,” Philip said.
But John Slinger, who is a part of Labour’s 2024 general election in take, said the “quick and clear decision” meant the party could “move on from the damaging, introspection and psychodrama of the last week”.
“We need to pull together behind whoever is selected in the by-election. As a united team we can beat Reform and then focus on vital elections in May”.
The move may ease some pressure from bond markets, which modestly edged up on Thursday after the speculation of an Andy Burnham return to government.
The mayor had previously said the UK was “in a low growth doom loop” and “our shallow, adversarial political system has shown itself incapable of lifting us out of it and it only adds to the volatility, so we do find ourselves stuck in a rut and in hock to the bond markets”.
He also called for “business-friendly socialism” to be introduced in government while advocating for greater public ownership across various sectors including water and rail. This led to fears if he was to stage a successful leadership bid, a Burnham-led government would put less focus on the fiscal rules, which maintain peace in the bond markets.