Two Old Foes now stuck in the middle

IF YOU were in the slightest doubt that the political landscape has changed irrevocably and the two “heritage parties” (Conservative and Labour) are facing the type of wipe out from which they might never recover, just look at the last seven days.

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It started precisely a week ago with Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee deciding by eight votes to one to block Andy Burnham from standing in this month’s crucial Gorton and Denton by-election.

The official reason given was he is currently serving as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and it would be both wrong and costly to force the patch — roughly the size of nearly 30 constituencies - to hold a fresh mayoral election.

That sounds about as valid as Sir Keir Starmer’s definition of a woman.

Everyone can see that the reality is Starmer and the Labour elite, who took just 45 minutes to reject Burnham as a candidate, are running scared of the self-styled King of the North.

As Labour's popularity continues to plummet, an increasing number of party MPs see Burnham as the only saviour.