Labour Starmer tries to quash leadership speculation

Keir Starmer has tried to dampen fresh speculation about his leadership by insisting that his potential rival Andy Burnham is doing a “really good job as mayor of Manchester”.

- Kiran Stacey Johannesburg

The prime minister issued the endorsement as he travelled to the G20 summit in Johannesburg and after Burnham repeatedly failed to rule out a challenge for the Labour leadership in interviews on Thursday.

The mayor’s stance reignited speculation over the prime minister’s future, with his party languishing in the polls and days away from a tax-raising budget that could define the rest of his term in office.

Starmer said: “Andy’s doing a really good job as mayor in Manchester and we work very closely together.”

He added: “Only two days after Labour party conference we were in Manchester together in the aftermath of the terrible attack on the synagogue there. I spoke to Andy as soon as I heard about that attack when I was in Denmark.

“It was one of the first calls I made to get an assessment on the ground. I spoke to him the next day then I went up and met him and went through the briefings. He’s doing a really good job as the mayor of Manchester.”