Andy Burnham has thrown has support behind Keir Starmer, calling on Labour to stop infighting and focus on fighting Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
The Manchester Mayor, long considered a potential leadership challenger, joined other frontline Labour politicians in uniting behind the Prime Minister as he clung to power yesterday amid intense public scrutiny over the Lord Mandelson scandal.
While staying silent as Cabinet Ministers lined up to declare their allegiance following Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s intervention, he made clear his position while speaking at an event on Tuesday afternoon.
When asked if Sir Keir enjoyed his full backing, Mr Burnham said: “Yes, he has my support.
“The Government has my support, and they had my support when I put myself forward for the by-election.”
“What I am calling for very clearly today is for the unity to create the stability, to give the Government the platform, to focus on all of the things that I’m talking about today.”
Aiming at infighting within the Labour Party, the Manchester Mayor said: “We need to sort of dial down all of this constant briefing.
“It’s seemingly a bit endless, some of the anonymous briefings going around. I think we just need to focus on what’s in front of us.”
Appearing to address Reform UK, Mr Burnham added: “There’s a by-election in front of us, I’ve been playing my role in that by-election… that’s the issue in politics right in front of us – the politics of collectivism versus the politics of division.
“My view is you’ve got to focus on stopping that now…. and everything else is noise in the background.”
