Nandy Urges Starmer to Let Burnham Run

On March 24th, a senior labor cabinet minister, Lisa Nandy, has publicly urged Prime Minister

Kierstarmer to let rival Andy Burnham run for, Parliament.

She called the Greater Manchester Mayor a huge asset to the party and said she would back

whatever he chooses to do.

Nandy criticized the decision to block Burnham from standing in last month's Gordon and

Denton by election.

Starmer used his majority on Labour's National Executive Committee to stop Burnham with

an 8-1 vote.

Allies feared Burnham wanted a common seat to launch a leadership challenge.

This comes as Labour trails reform UK in polls and faces rising competition from the Green

Party.

Nandy, who served alongside Burnham as an MP, said she would have voted yes, like Deputy

Leader Lucy Powell, the only one who did.

She stressed that local members should control their candidate choices, even if Burnham

has a strong mayor role to finish.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rainer compared Labour's struggles to the

tough days under Michael foot in the 1980s.

At a recent fundraiser, she told Starmer to pick more fights with opponents to prove

the government stands with voters.

With Scottish Parliament, Wells Shannon and English Council elections looming on 7 May,

poor results could spark a push to oust Starmer, amplifying these internal tensions.