Burnham allies identify fresh path back to Westminster as Starmer battles calls to quit

{"text":[[{"start":14.55,"text":"Allies of Andy Burnham have identified a fresh path for the Greater Manchester mayor to return to Westminster and potentially run for Labour leader, as Sir Keir Starmer battles calls to resign over the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal. "}],[{"start":27.200000000000003,"text":"Burnham, one of Labour’s most popular politicians, was blocked from standing in a by-election in February by members of the governing party’s national executive committee, including the prime minister. "}],[{"start":39.050000000000004,"text":"But the former cabinet minister is looking to a shake-up of the body that controls the Labour machinery this summer as a route back into national politics and potentially Downing Street, according to his allies. "}],[{"start":52.150000000000006,"text":"One person close to Burnham, who has grown more critical of Starmer as Labour’s poll ratings have worsened, said the mayor was “keeping an eye” on how numbers may change on the NEC when voting for 16 of its roughly 40 places opens in July. "}],[{"start":67.4,"text":"Burnham’s team had held conversations with four trade unions about the dynamics on the ruling committee, they added."}],[{"start":73.75,"text":"Starmer’s faction controls the balance of power on the committee at present. But the prime minister is seeking to cling on to his job after it emerged that Mandelson had failed a security vetting check before his ill-fated appointment as UK ambassador to the US."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":88.9,"text":"Party insiders said dissidents could emerge stronger on the committee as Labour members cast their ballots after the May 7 local elections, which senior officials expect to go poorly and fuel leadership speculation."}],[{"start":101.9,"text":"One veteran Labour official said: “It will change the balance if you have more members who are anti the leadership.”"}],[{"start":108.4,"text":"One Labour MP said: “There is a whole slate of NEC posts up for grabs in the autumn and you’ll see a shift to the left and away from Starmer loyalists, and after that it’ll be harder to stop Burnham coming back to Westminster.”"}],[{"start":120.95,"text":"The 16 NEC places up for election comprise two local government members, nine constituency representatives and single positions for youth, disability, Wales, treasurer and Black and minority ethnic."}],[{"start":135.05,"text":"The make-up of the committee will be announced during Labour’s annual party conference in late September — a year after Burnham launched a thinly veiled pitch to replace Starmer, proposing tax rises on the wealthy, mass nationalisation and a big increase in borrowing."}],[{"start":150.95000000000002,"text":"Burnham did not comment. But his allies said some unions had been “unhappy” about the way the NEC used an internal sub-committee process to block him from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":162.55,"text":"Labour lost the seat, which it had previously held for nearly a century, to the Green Party with Reform UK in second place. "}],[{"start":170.45000000000002,"text":"Unison, one of the largest unions, wields considerable power over some of the NEC positions. It has a new “hard left” leader who opposes Starmer."}],[{"start":181.00000000000003,"text":"Yet other figures cautioned Starmer’s allies were likely to maintain control of the committee, even if the pro-Burnham “soft left” made some gains, given the prime minister enjoys clear control at present."}],[{"start":192.85000000000002,"text":"The result of the vote for the seats on the NEC is hard to predict in part because the left is running three separate slates, possibly to the advantage of the more right-leaning “Labour to Win” slate."}],[{"start":204.45000000000002,"text":"Momentum, the hard-left faction, could work with the pro-Burnham “Mainstream” group to boost the left’s clout. But the scale of any changes is likely to be limited by the “single transferable vote” system for electing NEC constituency representatives, introduced by Starmer’s allies in 2020."}],[{"start":224.00000000000003,"text":"Even if Starmer retains control of the NEC, some members believe he may find it harder to block a comeback by Burnham if he is weakened by May’s elections."}],[{"start":233.40000000000003,"text":"One loyalist member of the NEC said the committee could endorse Burnham as a parliamentary candidate in the coming months if there was a strong feeling in the party that Starmer’s time in Number 10 was drawing to a close."}],[{"start":246.75000000000003,"text":"“It depends on what the mood of the party is at the time,” the NEC member said. “Just because we blocked him last time, doesn’t mean we’ll block him next time.”"}],[{"start":257.35,"text":"Allies of Burnham said they predicted “opportunities” would arise later in the year for the mayor to attempt a return to Westminster, suggesting they expected a Labour MP to step down and trigger a by-election."}],[{"start":270.25,"text":"But one person close to Burnham pushed back on reports that he could quit his current position to stand in a by-election in order to bypass NEC rules that prevent sitting mayors from running for parliament."}],[{"start":282.85,"text":"“Why would that even be a vaguely sane thing to do?” the person said, calling the idea “a complete non-starter” because Burnham would still need NEC support in order to be selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate."}],[{"start":296.75,"text":"A Labour official said: “We are focused on getting Labour candidates elected at an important set of the local elections, not internal positioning.”"}],[{"start":304.7,"text":"Some Labour MPs think Starmer, who will make a statement to MPs about the Mandelson affair on Monday, could survive the immediate fallout of the local elections. But many are of the view that he is on borrowed time. "}],[{"start":318.7,"text":"“Nobody expects him to lead us into the next election,” said one MP."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":323.34999999999997,"text":"Lucy Powell, deputy Labour leader, this month warned the party against any moves to replace Starmer in the wake of May 7, telling the FT that they would trigger a “bloody internal contest”."}],[{"start":336.24999999999994,"text":"Meanwhile allies of Morgan McSweeney, who quit as Starmer’s chief of staff over the Mandelson scandal in February, rejected rumours that he is privately advising the prime minister about what to do if a rival seeks to oust him after the local elections. "}],[{"start":350.99999999999994,"text":"One friend of McSweeney acknowledged the rumour that he would return to “help save Keir”, after a comment made by the former top aide at his leaving party. "}],[{"start":361.54999999999995,"text":"“He said something along the lines of, ‘If anyone comes out of the woodwork to take a swing at the boss, they’ll be having a swing at me’. That was the rough gist,” he said. “But I wouldn’t take it that literally.”"}],[{"start":379.9,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776561226_9144.mp3"}