MP prepared to vacate his seat for Burnham comeback

Labour MP Clive Lewis has suggested he would be willing to give up his parliamentary seat to allow Andy Burnham to mount a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.

- CAITLIN DOHERTY

Mr Lewis suggested he would be willing to give up his Norwich South constituency for the Greater Manchester mayor to return to the Commons, months after Mr Burnham was touted as a possible successor to the prime minister.

Speculation that Mr Burnham, who quit the Commons in 2017, wanted to challenge the PM for the party leadership dominated Labour’s autumn conference after he dropped repeated hints he was eyeing a Westminster comeback.

Speaking to the BBC’s Politics Live yesterday, Mr Lewis said: “It’s a question I’ve asked myself, and I’d have to obviously consult with my wife as well, and family, but do you know what? If I’m going to sit here and say country before party, party before personal ambition, then yes, I have to say yes, don’t I?”