‘Crash and Burnham’

The Guardian believes Labour ‘faces risk of civil war’ after the decision by Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) to block Andy Burnham from standing in a parliamentary byelection. This choice sparked a wave of headlines criticizing Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership and potential rifts in the Labour party. It seems as if the British papers are in agreement for once: Starmer faces a likely backlash from unhappy Labour MPs and members. Andy Burnham, the long-standing and popular mayor of Greater Manchester and so-called ‘King of the North’, made a bid to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election. A win at the by-election would have set up a return to Westminster for the Greater Manchester mayor. This bid was blocked by the Labour party.The decision was made by a 10-strong sub-group of NEC, chaired by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Sunday morning.

Burnham is considered Starmer’s greatest threat for Labour leadership, as he is increasingly supported by Labour’s base voters. However, as long as he is not an MP, he cannot compete against Starmer.

The Mirror’s headlining story - ‘Strong Starm Tactics’ - claims Starmer purposefully derailed a potential political leadership bid. The Express is more explicit, calling the decision the start of a ‘Labour War’.

Critics of this decision claim Starmer’s decision to block Burnham from running has surrendered the constituency of Greater Manchester to Reform, despite famously being part of Labour’s ‘Red Wall’ in the North of England.

Burnham himself criticises the NEC, as he posted “PS – The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days. You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something but sadly not.”

The Labour party said the NEC decided to deny Burnham’s bid to avoid "an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor".

The party adds: "Although the party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour's control of Greater Manchester at any risk. Andy Burnham is doing a great job as mayor of Greater Manchester. We believe it is in the best interests of the party to avoid an unnecessary mayoral election which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers' money and resources that are better spent tackling the cost of living crisis."