Burnham's bid to return will force PM into fight for his political life

The Manchester mayor's decision to run in the Gorton and Denton byelection puts Starmer in a dangerous position

- Catherine Neilan

The contest to succeed Keir Starmer in Downing Street broke into the open yesterday with Andy Burnham's decision to announce a bid for parliament.

Minutes before a 5pm deadline, the Greater Manchester mayor said he was hoping to be the Labour candidate in the upcoming Gorton and Denton byelection and issued a statement aimed at Reform UK as well as rivals within Labour. He said this was "the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for".

Burnham's move means that 18 months after winning a landslide election, Starmer is in a fight for his political career.

In a heavily coded statement that nodded to his ambition to enter Downing Street, Burnham said: "There is a direct threat to everything Greater Manchester has always been about from a brand of politics which seeks to pit people against each other... I would run a hopeful and unifying campaign with broad appeal to voters, focusing on the positivity around what we have achieved, whilst at the same time being honest about the alienation people feel from politics."

Burnham's route back to Westminster, which he left in 2017, is not straightforward. He needs permission from Labour's national executive committee to stand in the byelection and would need the support of at least 80 MPs to mount a bid for the leadership. However, even if he fails, the odds of a leadership battle have risen sharply in the past week. The options for the prime minister — blocking Burnham as a candidate, Burnham returning to parliament or Labour losing the seat entirely - are all fraught with risk.

"Whatever Keir does it is like a lose-lose situation," one Labour backbencher said. "It makes the leadership look weak if they block him but losing the bye-lection will hasten [Starmer's] going. There will be a leadership challenge eventually, whatever happens."

Although Burnham is widely known to be angling for Starmer's job, sources told