PM made right decision for country, party - and himself

Keir Starmer faced a simple choice: either suffer the temporary embarrassment of blocking a rival, or paralyse the government by allowing Andy Burnham to be the focus of persistent leadership speculation.

- JOHN RENTOUL CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR

The prime minister chose the first option, because that is in the best interests of the country, the Labour Party - and himself. Politicians can be ruthless, hypocritical and self-interested, but sometimes they can also be right.

It doesn’t look brave or democratic or comradely to refuse Burnham permission to be the Labour candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, but there was never any question of letting him stand.

The party leader has a majority on Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), and the rules say that Labour mayors cannot be parliamentary candidates without permission from the NEC. The party leader does not want a dangerous rival in the House of Commons, and so Burnham will stay in Manchester. That is the reality of power.

Starmer’s only decision was to calculate the damage done by blocking Burnham - and he concluded that it was less than that of allowing the pretender to his throne to return to parliament.