Labour MP Clive Lewis has suggested he would be willing to give up his parliamentary seat to allow Andy Burnham to mount a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Lewis suggested he would be willing to give up his Norwich South constituency for the Greater Manchester mayor to return to the Commons, months after Mr Burnham was touted as a possible successor to the prime minister.
Speculation that Mr Burnham, who quit the Commons in 2017, wanted to challenge the PM for the party leadership dominated Labour’s autumn conference after he dropped repeated hints he was eyeing a Westminster comeback.
Speaking to the BBC’s Politics Live on Wednesday, Mr Lewis said: “It’s a question I’ve asked myself, and I’d have to obviously consult with my wife as well, and family, but do you know what? If I’m going to sit here and say country before party, party before personal ambition, then yes, I have to say yes, don’t I?”
Mr Lewis last week called for the Greater Manchester mayor’s return to Parliament as he said Sir Keir’s position was “not tenable” and that he should “put country before party” and quit as leader.
It comes after civil war erupted at the top of the Labour Party last week, with suggestions of potential leadership candidates eyeing up challenges.
Health secretary Wes Streeting had to refute accusations he was planning a coup to overthrow Sir Keir, and allies of former deputy leader Angela Rayner were also forced to deny a bid to topple the prime minister.
The bitter row prompted a defiant Sir Keir to vow that he would lead Labour into the next general election, as he criticised the speculation over his future as time-wasting.
And he went further at this week’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, as he warned his ministers against talking “about ourselves”.
Sir Keir told ministers that “distractions” in recent weeks meant the government’s focus had “shifted from where it mattered most”, and called for unity within the party.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that MPs on the left of the party are pushing on with preparations for a potential leadership race.
According to The Times, senior MPs in the Tribune Group are yet to unite around a single candidate, but it is believed that they would be able to get the backing of the 80 MPs needed for any contest to take place.
It follows a survey from YouGov suggested that 23 per cent of Labour voters think he should quit the top job now, while a further 22 per cent think he should stand down before the next election, due to be held in 2029 at the latest. Only 34 per cent think he should still be leading Labour by then.
