Andy Burnham failed to suppress a grin last night as a member of the Question Time audience tore into his Labour civil war foe Keir Starmer, saying: ‘Everybody wants him to go, we can’t stand him.’
The Greater Manchester mayor smiled as the woman said she wanted him to win the upcoming Makerfield by-election so he could oust Sir Keir, adding: ‘The sooner the better.’
Minutes later Mr Burnham used the BBC TV special ahead of the vote in the Wigan seat to confirm he would seek to replace Sir Keir in No10 if he is elected on June 18.
His confirmation that he has designs on national power came at the same time as a new poll showed he has a 10-point lead over Reform’s Robert Kenyon in Makerfield.
If he wins the Westminster seat it will fire the start gun on a summer of bitter Labour infighting, with allies of Sir Keir vowing he will not step aside meekly but will take on Mr Burnham and other challengers like Wes Streeting.
Presenter Fiona Bruce introduced the audience member as ‘the woman here in the jacket’, before the voter said she backed Burnham.
She went on: ‘The sooner the better that Keir Starmer walks out of Downing Street, the better for me and everybody else. We want him to go.
‘Everybody wants him to go, we can’t stand him actually. But he’s not for the people anyway.’
Bruce interjected, joking ‘say what you really think’, prompting a big smile from Mr Burnham who wrote something down on his notepad. The woman then continued: ‘Well, yeah. He’s not for the people, he doesn’t listen, that’s his downfall.’
A Question Time audience member says of Sir Keir Starmer: ‘Everybody wants him to go’
Andy Burnham smiles after Bruce’s interjection following the audience member’s comments
If he wins the Westminster seat it will fire the start gun on a summer of bitter Labour infighting, with allies of Sir Keir vowing he will not step aside meekly
But Sir Keir’s allies today warned of a tough summer for the party, with Deputy PM David Lammy telling LBC: ‘There is no contest at the moment, and my view is it would be a huge distraction at this time.
‘The Prime Minister … has been absolutely clear: if there is a contest, he’ll be in it.’
And Attorney General Lord Hermer told the BBC: ‘Keir has constantly been underestimated. I imagine through his life he has been underestimated.
‘He has always proven his critics wrong. No one has ever got rich betting against Keir Starmer.’
The vote in the by-election on June 18 is expected to be a race between Mr Burnham and Reform UK’s candidate Robert Kenyon, a plumber and local councillor.
Mr Kenyon was also on last night’s panel, and Bruce said: ‘Just so you’re aware, Robert may say this, in terms of raising the tax threshold, I think it was to £20,000.
‘That was a Reform policy, it’s not currently a Reform policy. It’s an aim, isn’t it, but not a current policy?’
The woman said: ‘It is in your manifesto’ – but Bruce clarified: ‘It is no longer.’
Mr Kenyon then said: ‘It was in 2024, but I mentioned pensioners are getting poorer. Just think about what happened with the winter fuel allowance, that got taken off all the pensioners.’
The programme then heard from Jake Austin from the Lib Dems and Sarah Wakefield of the Green Party, before Mr Burnham confirmed in response to another question that he would challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership if he wins the by-election.
Mr Burnham, who is widely viewed as Sir Keir’s main rival for the top job if he wins, said he had asked his team to help ‘develop a policy’ but will need the backing of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
‘I’m not somebody who gets ahead of myself. I can’t do anything unless I’m lucky enough to get the support of people here,’ he explained.
‘But if I get your support, I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level and give this constituency maximum power and influence.
Do you think Andy Burnham should challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership?
The woman says Sir Keir Starmer was ‘not for the people’ and the ‘sooner the better’ he quits
Deputy PM David Lammy this morning told LBC: ‘The Prime Minister … has been absolutely clear: if there is a contest, he’ll be in it’
‘I think Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that is running, I would seek to join it. But I’d have to persuade members of the Parliamentary Labour Party to do the same.
‘So that’s the only question… I’ve said to my team, let’s have a proper look at this and let’s develop a policy.’
Responding to the woman’s question on tax thresholds, he added: ‘On the personal allowance, I’ve heard it on so many doorsteps and I’ve said to my team let’s have a proper look at this and let’s develop a proper policy.’
Michael Winstanley from the Conservatives also appeared on the panel.
Hitting back at Mr Burnham’s announcement about going for the leadership, Downing Street said the process for challenging the Labour leader ‘has not been triggered’, and Sir Keir ‘will not walk away’.
A No 10 spokesperson said: ‘With Keir Starmer’s leadership, this Labour Government is supporting people with the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists, restoring control of our borders and lifting half a million children out of poverty.
‘The country expects us to focus on governing and to deliver change for hard-working people, not get distracted by Westminster debates. The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and it has not been triggered.
‘The Prime Minister will not walk away from the mandate he was given just two years ago to build a stronger, fairer Britain.’
(From left) Jake Austin from the Liberal Democrats, Michael William Winstanley, Mr Burnham, Fiona Bruce, Robert Kenyon from Reform UK and Sarah Wakefield from the Green Party
Mr Burnham said a ‘fundamental change’ is needed in Westminster to restore the public’s trust in politicians.
He told the programme: ‘The system just simply was not set up to support places like ours, and it treated us as the bottom of the list rather than the top of the list.
‘It’s the point scoring, isn’t it? You know, the kind of whole set-up of Westminster, people go to point-scoring before they go to problem-solving.
‘It’s party first rather than place first and people collaborating. And it took me a long time to realise it, but I did realise it and that’s why I left.
‘What I would say is that approach, a more collaborative politics, a more, if you like, long-term approach to solving the country’s problems needs to be taken from here, Greater Manchester, and taken down there, a fundamental change in Westminster to restore the public’s trust.’
Mr Burnham has ruled out calling a snap election if he enters Downing Street, a spokesperson said previously in response to speculation the former cabinet minister was considering such a move to give him a stronger mandate.
He is one of 14 candidates standing in the election, which was triggered when Labour’s Josh Simons stood down.
The vote is expected to be a race between Mr Burnham and Reform UK’s candidate Robert Kenyon, a plumber and local councillor.
A by-election poll released yesterday evening showed Mr Burnham with 49 per cent of the vote, ahead of Mr Kenyon on 39 per cent.
The Survation poll, which had a sample size of 518, put Rebecca Shepherd of Restore Britain on 8 per cent and Sarah Wakefield of the Green Party on 2 per cent, with the Lib Dems and Conservatives on 1 per cent.
