Andy Burnham has confirmed that he would run for Labour leader again as dissatisfaction with Sir Keir Starmer grows in the Labour Party ranks.
The mayor of Manchester, who was re-elected with a landslide win in May, has twice run for leadership before, losing out to Ed Miliband in 2010 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015.
But his impressive handling of the pandemic and vocal views on key issues has put him back in contention to become the next leader.
Speaking to the New Statesman, he confirmed it would be a role he would consider.
According to a Sky News poll 41 per cent of Labour members would want Sir Keir to stand down if the Labour Party loses Batley and Spen tomorrow, which it is on course to do.
Deputy political editor Sam Coates said: “We teamed up with YouGov to ask Labour members what they think should happen.
“And these are voters, they are the bedrock of the party – who pay £50 a year, who go door-knocking, who vote in leadership elections. Their view is absolutely critical.
“In the event that Labour doesn’t win Batley and Spen, and it’s not looking good, you can see that 41 percent of the Labour membership should stand down, 48 percent say he should stay.
“But that’s still four out of 10 Labour members thinking that if tomorrow goes the wrong way for the Labour Party then Keir Starmer should go as Labour leader.”
Mr Coates added: “What do they think might improve the situation for Labour? We asked people if they thought that Andy Burnham would make a better job and 69 per cent, seven in 10 Labour members, say they do think it would be better.
“He would do a better job as a leader than Keir Starmer.”
Related: PMQs 30th June – Did the PM back, sack or crack over the Hancock affair?
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