Much as I want someone to replace Starmer, this decision is not a big surprise, really. Aside from Starmer’s desire for self-preservation, Burnham becoming an MP would have forced a mayoral by-election in Manchester which Labour might well have lost (on current polling, Reform had a slight edge). Burnham had a chance to run as an MP in 2024 without causing that problem and decided not to, so it’s hard to feel too sorry for him.
Yeah, as someone who had Dan Norris (🤮🤮🤮) as metro mayor, it’s a shitty thing to do to try and dump your role as mayor the minute an MP slot opens up. We want mayors who are committed to the region and solving the challenges (transport in particular) in their remit, not people who have half an eye on Westminster. I’m no Starmer fan, but trying to dump Manchester at this point has soured me a bit on Burnham.
This exactly. As someone who wants Starmer out ASAP, I was half-minded to support Burnham just to achieve that goal, but it’s not like he was covering himself in glory, here. He had an opportunity to run as an MP just 18 months ago and decided not to take it. What’s changed since then - other than he now has a shot at PM?
I’m not convinced Burnham would be much better either. He had a fairly Blairite run as a minister and, given how open he is about his political ambitions, I would be worried about another bait-and-switch like Starmer’s brief tack to the left during the leadership campaign. He is at least more charismatic than Starmer, but so are most people to be fair.