Key union leaders will tell Sir Keir Starmer he must resign if Labour does poorly at this year’s local elections.
Head of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Steve Wright said Labour’s 11 affiliated trade unions could unite and call for the Prime Minister to resign as Labour leader if he failed to show the party was “delivering” in the coming months.
While Mr Wright insisted he did not want to see a “revolving door” at Downing Street, he added: “I want to see this Labour government deliver.”
He told The Times: “I don’t really care who does it, I’ll be honest…There is a benefit to keeping someone in position as long as they’re delivering and listening. There’s hope. We’ll see what happens in May, won’t we?”
When pressed on if all 11 affiliated trade unions could come together and tell Sir Keir it was time for him to go if the May elections were a disaster for Labour, Mr Wright replied: “I think so.”
It is the latest attack on the Prime Minister as he continues to come under fire after Labour’s ruling national executive council took the decision to block Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing at the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.
The party claimed he was blocked due to the cost of holding a mayoral by-election to replace him, which would be well over £1million.
Mr Burnham told the BBC: “I would have pointed out to them I’ve never had any support from the party in the three mayoral elections I’ve fought, so the Greater Manchester mayoral election has never been a great expense.
“I’ve never had support in fighting it.”
When asked if he had spoken with Sir Keir, Mr Burnham said: “We had a conversation on Monday. It was a fair exchange, we both said how we felt and I was glad to have that conversation and a chance to say how I felt.
“But I would have preferred to speak in advance of the decision to assure him of what I was trying to do. I think it could have created a more positive path for everybody, including the Prime Minister and the Government.”
