A Labour NEC member said on Thursday the party should not tweak its rules to make way for Andy Burnham in a leadership contest, as backers of the Greater Manchester mayor pushed for enough time to return to parliament.
Luke Akehurst said he did not think it was physically possible for Burnham to take part if a contest were launched immediately. “If a contest started right now, I just don’t see how it’s physically possible for Andy Burnham to participate,” he said.
The fight is over timing, nominations and whether Labour’s ruling body should bend its process for one candidate. Burnham’s supporters are understood to be lobbying the NEC for an extended leadership election and a nomination period long enough for him to win a byelection first. The NEC can vary the rules for a leadership contest with its consent, giving the 10-strong body real leverage over how any race would begin.
Akehurst argued the rules should not be changed to suit one person. “[If we change the rules] we could have a cast of thousands. How about a byelection for David Miliband or a byelection for Ed Balls? I don’t think the Labour party’s rules and procedures are there to be tweaked, to suit one particular person,” he said. He also said prime ministers needed to be MPs or members of the House of Lords, pointing out that the last time a prime minister was outside both houses was 1963.
The row has been building since January, when Labour’s ruling body blocked Burnham’s return to parliament. The officers’ group rejected his request to seek selection for the Gorton and Denton byelection, shutting down the route his allies were trying to use to get him back into the Commons.
That earlier decision now sits at the center of the new argument. Burnham’s backers wanted an extended timetable because they believed he needed time to win a byelection before any leadership race moved too quickly. Without that window, he would be shut out before he could even enter the contest.
Angela Rayner said on Thursday that Burnham should not have been prevented from re-entering parliament. “If somebody wants to come and help, and be part of the future that we can deliver, then absolutely we shouldn’t be blocking people … We cannot afford to be factional about this. We cannot afford to have egos,” she said. She added: “I’m not doing deals.”
Abdi Duale, another NEC member, said officials were backing away from blocking Burnham’s return. He said the leader’s influence over how the NEC votes is real, but less decisive after the election result on 7 May. “Of course, the leader has influence over how the NEC votes. But I do think that influence is diminished by looking at the results and thinking, well, you know, the prime minister is probably not going to take us into the next election. So I imagine colleagues will be weighing that up, because I think old loyalties that existed before 7 May are all being reassessed,” he said.
The contest has also exposed a wider fear inside the party: that a fast-track process could smooth the path for a preferred successor while leaving Burnham with no practical route back. His allies have warned against what they see as a coronation for Wes Streeting as the next prime minister, and the NEC’s decision on the rules will determine whether that pressure matters.
For now, the answer is clear. Labour is not being pushed into rewriting its leadership rules for Burnham, and unless the NEC changes course, the mayor’s path back into parliament remains shut.
