Labour faces risk of party civil war after PM blocks Burnham's return

The Labour party faced the prospect of civil war last night after Keir Starmer and his allies blocked Andy Burnham's return to parliament to stave off a potential leadership challenge.

- Peter Walker

There was widespread anger among Labour MPs and union backers after the 10-strong “officers’ group” of the party’s ruling body, including the prime minister, voted overwhelmingly to reject Burnham’s request to seek selection for the upcoming Gorton and Denton byelection.

The national executive committee said picking Burnham would require a hugely expensive and destabilising election to replace him as mayor of Greater Manchester less than halfway through his four-year term. But MPs from across the party - many despairing at Starmer’s leadership and not all of them natural allies of Burnham - condemned the “petty factionalism”. Another called the decision a “huge mistake” while a third said the leadership was “mad” not to make more of the self-styled “king of the north”.

Andrea Egan, head of the huge Unison union, a major Labour funder, said members would be “disappointed and angry”. A series of unions are understood to be in discussions about what they might do jointly to try to change the decision. “This is blatant gerrymandering,” one union source said. “It will not do.”

In a brief statement, Burnham said he was disappointed by the NEC’s decision, hitting out at “the way the Labour party is being run” under Starmer and raising concerns about the impact of the decision on the byelection. Labour figures across the northwest are concerned that Reform UK could take the seat.

Starmer has faced near constant internal unrest in recent months, with the party trailing in the polls and many MPs spooked by political misjudgments and the prospect of being wiped out by Reform UK at the next election.