Andy Burnham 'clears first hurdle in bid to oust Keir Starmer' - PM branded 'not worth protecting'

Andy Burnham is said to have cleared his first hurdle in his long-rumoured bid to topple Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader.

The Prime Minister's allies on Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), are no longer willing to stand in Mr Burnham's way in his charge to power.

In order to stand as an MP, he must secure the NEC's permission to quit as Greater Manchester Mayor.

Then, he will have to find a seat - though Bootle MP Peter Dowd opened the door to offering his yesterday.

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Mr Burnham tried to contest the Gorton and Denton by-election for Labour earlier this year, but was blocked.

Last night, The Telegraph revealed how the mood had changed on the 10-strong committee of NEC officers.

One source told the newspaper how in January, there were "some legitimate reasons relating to the process" - i.e., the "genuine expense of a mayoral election".

They said that back then, there was "more of a feeling that Keir was worth protecting".

"Maybe there was a sense three months ago that there was a world in which Keir might rally, the local elections won't go as badly - but that ship has now sailed," the source admitted.

A Labour source, meanwhile, said the NEC had been unhappy with Mr Burnham's "un-comradely and distasteful" behaviour towards Sir Keir.

But now, "disgust" is brewing over the PM's handling of the Lord Mandelson vetting scandal.

Alongside Mr Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner have emerged as the frontrunners to mount a Labour takeover.

A party source said MPs were being wooed by the so-called King of the North over the former Deputy PM, who resigned over a probe into her contentious tax affairs.

"Do we really want to replace one scandal-ridden PM with another? The British people don't like tax-dodgers," they said, making the case for Mr Burnham.

The Mayor is said to be seen as the leading soft-left Labour candidate - who would command more support from the party's restless backbenchers than "right-wing" pair Shabana Mahmood or Mr Streeting.

Amid the in-fighting, the PM was forced to issue a plea to his colleagues to remain "united", warning Labour could not succumb to the infighting which plagued the Tories in power.

He has repeatedly promised to last a full five-year term in No10.

"I'll be judged at the end of that period of the next election by whether I've delivered on what I promised," he vowed to the BBC.

Though just this week, none other than Mr Burnham refused to say whether the PM should even stay on until after the local elections.

Now, pressure is mounting on Sir Keir to announce a timetable for him to step down - which could possibly fall at the Labour conference in the autumn.

"There is an agreement Starmer has to go, but no agreement over when that should happen, who should replace him or what the process for that should be," one party veteran told The Telegraph.

Another source said: "I don't think anyone really understands the scale of what is going to happen [in the local elections]. Labour is going to lose in places it has never lost, including in parts of London.

"It will be destroyed in the Midlands and the North, and once the northern barons turn against Starmer, it's over. It will be carnage."

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