Starmer knows he must block rival to remain PM

Andy Burnham has made what is for him the logical decision. He wants to be prime minister and thinks that there is a chance that he could be. Therefore he has put himself forward and dared Keir Starmer to stop him.

- JOHN RENTOUL CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR

If he had turned tail at this stage and failed to seek permission to stand in the by-election in Gorton and Denton, he would have looked weak. He would have been saying, in effect, that he was happy as mayor of Greater Manchester, and willing to end his career as a successful leader of a great British city.

Now, he risks alienating some of its citizens, who may feel that he was less committed to them than they thought. Indeed, he has just shown that he is willing to break his promise to them to serve out his third term, which ends in 2028.

But he knows that Starmer is unlikely to allow him to break that promise. Labour's national executive committee (NEC) is expected to refuse him permission to seek the nomination as the party's by-election candidate. One member of the NEC told Matt Chorley of the BBC: “He will not be the candidate if I have got anything to effing do with it. Not a chance.”

There will be an outcry against what will be called an undemocratic stitch-up. All the people who warned against blocking a candidate beforehand will condemn the decision when it is made. It will be Starmer who looks weak, but he will still be strong enough, as I wrote yesterday, to withstand an open letter to The Guardian.