Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has pulled out of a key speaking date in the city as speculation over his likelihood of replacing PM Keir Starmer once again peaks.
Burnham was the only politician of note in the country with a net positive approval rating in YouGov’s April polling, with his +9% rating outshining current PM Starmer (-45%), fellow potential Labour contenders Wes Streeting (-20%) and Angela Rayner (-31%), and even much-hyped arrivistes Nigel Farage (-38%) and Zack Polanski (-8%), and is currently being touted as Labour’s knight on a white horse following the party’s disastrous local election results last week, when Farage’s Reform took the headlines as both Labour and the Tories suffered widespread losses to the massively foreign-funded newcomers.
Burnham was billed as the keynote speaker at the British Insurance Brokers Association annual exhibition at Manchester Central this week, but has now withdrawn.
The organisation said: “We have been informed by Andy Burnham’s office that he is no longer able to join us at The BIBA Conference. We hope you understand that this is entirely out of our control.”
Around 10,000 delegates from the insurance industry are expected in Manchester this week for the world’s largest insurance broking event, which sounds a thriller even without Burnham’s presence.
The Mayor was previously blocked by Starmer and his allies on Labour’s National Executive Committee from standing as an MP in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, reputedly over Starmer’s fear of the “King of the North”’s credentials as a potential usurper, although the PM maintained it was due to the great job he was already doing in Manchester (and perhaps the fear of losing the UK’s second most powerful metro mayoralty if it went to a vote in the current scenario).
Labour subsequently lost the by-election to the Greens, who successfully saw off Reform’s high-profile Southern interloper candidate, GB News host and self-proclaimed Manchester hater Matt Goodwin, despite a Reform campaign including fake letters from constituents and a subsequent tantrum over alleged, and unsubstantiated, voting irregularites taken straight from the Donald Trump “Building a Dictatorship for (and with) Dummies” handbook.
Had Burnham stood and won on that occasion he would, as a member of parliament, have been in a position to mount a leadership challenge to Starmer.
Burnham isn’t the only Manchester figure in the frame for a challenge to Starmer, with local bookie Betfred currently offering 4-1 on former deputy PM and Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner to be the next PM, compared to Burnham’s 13-8.
A week is a long time in politics, but Burnham’s next high-profile public engagement is next Wednesday, when he is due to appear as keynote speaker at the J2 Marketing Day. Or not.
