Andy Burnham has secured so many nominations that he cannot be challenged by anyone else in the Labour Party.
It means he will now become Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister without facing an internal contest, or public debate about his policies.
Having won the Makerfield by-election last month Mr Burnham has not taken questions in Parliament, leading to opposition parties to beg for extra time before recess.
It would allow MPs to question the next Prime Minister before the summer break when people fear he will be left to run the country without facing a probe as to his plans.
However, a shock poll has left Labour reeling in the Manchester mayoral seat, which Burnham vacated to become an MP.
Yvette Cooper backs Andy Burnham’s criticism of Labour’s initial response to Israel’s actions in Gaz
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has backed Andy Burnham’s criticism of Labour’s initial response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Asked whether she agreed with the likely next prime minister’s assessment that the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire and should strengthen its approach, Ms Cooper told the Foreign Affairs Committee: “Yes, I do agree with that.”
Super-rich plan to flee Britain if Ed Miliband becomes Andy Burnham’s Chancellor
Britain’s super-rich are planning to feel the country should Ed Miliband be made Chancellor under incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Fears have mounted after the Makerfield MP was said to be plotting a multi-billion tax raid targeting the country’s wealth creators.
Now the country’s top businessmen have reportedly engaged international tax advisors so they can work out new ways to skirt a possible expansion of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). Mr Burnham is widely expected to launch a review of CGT before his first budget this year.
The former Mayor of Greater Manchester has previously said the country has “overtaxed jobs [and] undertaxed wealth” in what was interpreted as a call to hike levies on gains outside of employment. Mr Burnham has pledged to stick to Labour’s manifesto commitment – made more than 52 times – not to increase income tax, VAT or National Insurance. It means he could consider levelling the rates of income tax and CGT, and even a new top rate of income tax itself.
Badenoch erupts at Burnham
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch took to X to hit out at Andy Burnham for not taking questions from MPs before they break for the summer.
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Andy Burnham is already trying to stitch up Nigel Farage – he’s got no shame at all
Andy Burnham might think he is already walking the corridors of Downing Street, but until asked to take post by His Majesty, he is but a mere backbencher. But that, it would seem, has not stopped him rigging the game before he has even picked up the keys to Number 10. For in just a few weeks the £5million Greater Manchester mayoral by-election – triggered because Andy wanted a nicer digs in London – will take place.
Make no mistake, that costly ballot exists for one reason: because more than 400 Labour MPs agreed none of them were good enough to be the new Labour leader and Prime Minister. So they parachuted in Andy Burnham, the municipal messiah whose main goal it seems is to make as many references to Oasis whilst avoiding talking about what he might do to us all as PM. One of his first big political tests will be ensuring Labour wins the election to choose a new Greater Manchester mayor. But he’ll face it safe in the knowledge that the rules for choosing his successor have just been changed. How very convenient!
News Politics Andy Burnham makes worrying promise to ‘listen’ to Labour’s left-wing backbenchers
Andy Burnham has told left-wing backbench Labour MPs that they will be “seen” and “listened to” under his incoming administration.
He is understood to have made the commitment in a leadership hustings, which was carried out over the video calling service Zoom, this evening.
Mr Burnham, who has not taken questions from opposition MPs or the Daily Express, is the only candidate standing in the Labour Leadership election.
He recently swept to victory in the Makerfield by-election and made a run on No10 as he made a pitch to become Prime Minister.
But during the by-election he repeatedly declined to take questions from the Daily Express, and literally ran away when doorstepped about his position on the EU.
Starmer to open debate on Hillsborough Law
Sir Keir Starmer will open the debate on the Hillsborough Law on Tuesday as the legislation is due to clear the Commons after ministers agreed its duty of candour would apply to the intelligence services.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “This has been something he’s played a huge role in making sure happens and making it as strong as it possibly could be.”
She pointed back to the Prime Minister’s previous commitment to families and campaigners, adding the Hillsborough disaster “remains in our national consciousness for its tragedy and disgraceful injustice”.
“This legislation will right those wrongs, changing the balance of power so that the state must always act for the people it’s supposed to serve,” she said.
How your MP voted on Labour’s immigration bill – full list
MPs have voted on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood‘s immigration reforms. The Immigration and Asylum Bill faced its latest hurdle in the House of Commons.
Ahead of the vote, speculation was high over which way prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham would be swayed.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s successor is facing calls from dozens of Labour backbenchers to water down the overhaul by ditching plans to make migrants wait longer before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain, with the proposals applying to some already in the UK.
However, that proposal was not being directly voted on during the second reading on Monday.
The vote passed with 264 MPs voting for and 90 voting against. Andy Burnham, who will soon become Labour Leader and thereafter Prime Minister after nobody stood against him, voted for the bill.
Reform offered security meeting after Widdecombe ‘murder’ sparks MP safety row
Reform UK bosses have been offered a meeting with the Parliamentary authorities amid mounting concerns over a culture of violence in politics. It comes just days after the party was forced to offer its own MPs private protection because, they claimed, “the state” would not do it. Party figures say that threats of violence against its representatives have only grown with Zia Yusuf, a senior Reform official, warning the government and police did not “care at all about the security of Reform MPs”
Further alarm bells about the threats politicians now face in public life were sounded by Labour Minister Lucy Rigby. She said it was a “sad and troubling” reality that elected officials faced increased threats in carrying out their jobs. Ms Rigby called on the UK to “sort out” rising security issues, adding that there was a “really concerning climate of abuse and intimidation and violence” against MPs.
Trade unions back Burnham
Trade union Unison has backed Andy Burnham for the Labour leadership.
Mr Burnham is the only candidate to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister.
Linda Hobson, chairwoman of Unison’s Labour Link committee said: “It’s clear Andy Burnham’s best placed to take on the task of fulfilling the manifesto promise of change for the UK.
“He has a tough task ahead but he is a strong, powerful voice who commands respect. Andy also has a good relationship with unions and knows the importance of public services, and the staff delivering them.
“We look forward to working with him to bring about the change our members so desperately need.”
Video shows Ann Widdecombe just 20 minutes before she was attacked
Shocking new footage has appeared which appears to show beloved Express columnist and former MP Ann Widdecombe just 20 minutes before police believe she was attacked. Miss Widdecombe, who was found dead in her Dartmoor home last week, was well-known for her media appearances.
The interview shows her defending Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has resigned from Parliament and sparked a by-election in his Clacton seat following allegations about his finances. Displaying the blunt honesty for which she was famous, Miss Widdecombe described Commons rules requiring MPs to disclose financial dealings as “a joke”, saying they had become a method of attacking politicians rather than informing the public.
Simon Case hopes Burnham brings back Olly Robbins
Simon Case told the veteran broadcaster that he hoped the incoming Prime Minister, Makerfield MP Andy Burnham, would bring back Sir Olly: “I hope that’s what he’ll do. And I think that’s not just my view about this process. I think it was last week the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, chaired by Emily Thornberry, published their report on the whole Mandelson affair, and they said in relation to Olly’s removal, it seems to have been taken without full due process and establishment of the facts.”
And when asked if he believed that Sir Olly being booted out was an attempt by the Prime Minister to pass on the blame of the Mandelson scandal to someone else, Lord Case said: “It certainly felt like that at the time. I’m sure in the years to come we’ll get more from Keir Starmer’s memoirs. I think it felt mostly actually and crucially to other civil servants and possibly others, that this was blame shifting. Being Prime Minister is an impossible job, and you need a good team around you. And when the whole team sees a Prime Minister firing and blaming other people, well, people start to wonder, am I next?”
Simon Case: Starmer made a big mistake
Fresh accusations have been levelled against the outgoing Prime Minister, who will cease to be the top dog on 20 July after Andy Burnham takes over. Sir Simon Case, the former Head of the Civil Service, told LBC’s Andrew Marr that he feels Sir Keir made a “big mistake” in giving Sir Olly the boot, and called the dismissal illegal.
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr on LBC, Lord Case revealed what Whitehall apparatchiks really thought of the Prime Minister. The peer said that civil servants saw the sacking of Sir Olly as “blame shifting” by the Prime Minister as he fought to save his own skin and deflect criticism for the handling of the Mandelson scandal.
And when asked whether he felt the move had been illegal, he responded: “That’s my view. I’m no legal expert on this, but my plain reading of the various texts says that Keir Starmer made a big mistake both in the legal process, but actually, just morally, Olly Robbins is an outstanding and long-serving public servant… The country faces huge challenges, and we need all the best people in the team as you as you can get. And Olly Robbins is one of those people.”
Keir Starmer ‘broke the law’ in desperate bid to shift blame for Keir Mandelson scandal
Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of breaking the law in a bid to shift the blame for the Mandelson scandal. The scandal led to the resignation of Mandelson from the post of US Ambassador, after further information about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
That led to months of fury in Westminster, with the Prime Minister facing repeated questions about what he knew and when. It also threw into doubt the vetting process which took place to grant the disgraced peer access to sensitive documents ahead of his appointment to the plum Washington posting.
Senior civil servants were forced out of their jobs – such as foreign office chief Sir Olly Robbins – over the scandal. Sir Olly is now taking legal action against the government, for what he claims was an unfair dismissal. Even members of Sir Keir’s own inner circle found themselves out of a job, as the embattled Prime Minister fought to remain in Number 10.
Now, fresh accusations have been levelled against the outgoing Prime Minister, who will cease to be the top dog on 20 July after Andy Burnham takes over. Sir Simon Case, the former Head of the Civil Service, told LBC’s Andrew Marr that he feels Sir Keir made a “big mistake” in giving Sir Olly the boot, and called the dismissal illegal.