David Lammy has said the question of replacing Starmer is not coming up in Makerfield among voters. All the Starmer loyalists are still pretending this is a regular by-election…
Lammy told Times Radio he was in the constituency:
“Of course I support Andy Burnham to become the Member of Parliament for Makerfield. He’s running against Reform, a candidate that’s got vile views and admits to being sexist. And I was up there campaigning for him. I hope to be up there again in a few days’ time. Of course I want Andy Burnham to win…
Keir Starmer has been absolutely clear. He got a mandate from the British people two years ago to be the prime minister. There can only be one prime minister. He has my full support and loyalty. I happen to believe loyalty is a very good attribute to have in politics. And I will be supporting him until he no longer wants to continue to lead the Labour Party. And he’s absolutely determined to see out his mandate.”
There is little photographic evidence of all these Cabinet ministers going up to Makerfield because Team Burnham thinks they are unhelpful. Lammy is reflecting the Starmer loyalist reality in his comments there – hinting at the reality that Starmer will likely stand down if challenged by Burnham…
Burnham finally said on Question Time last night: “I think Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that is running, I would seek to join it.” Can’t ignore the contest forever…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”