Andy Burnham dominates the spotlight this weekpublished at 08:24 BST
08:24 BST
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‘It’s not up to me, it’s not my decision’, says Burnham
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has been in the spotlight this week after telling the Daily Telegraph that some Labour MPs had asked whether he would consider running for the party leadership.
When asked by the paper whether colleagues were preparing to support a leadership run, he said: “People have contacted me throughout the summer, yeah.”
In a subsequent interview with BBC Radio Manchester, he said the Labour leadership was “up to the party” and “not my decision” to make.
“It’s got to be about more than a personality contest,” he said.
Burnham has twice run for leadership of the party – in 2010 and 2015 while Labour was in opposition.
But he is not an MP and would need to become one, by winning a by-election, and resign as mayor before he could even begin the process of trying to challenge Starmer as Labour leader. With no by-elections on the horizon, it’s unlikely he’ll be an MP any time soon.
Even if he was one, to challenge for the leadership he would need to be nominated by 20% of the combined ranks of Labour MPs, or 80 in total.
Nominations are made in writing to the general secretary of the Labour party.