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Manchester's Mayor Andy Burnham has come out and openly stated he would not re-run the Brexit argument (see here), which is in contrast to Wes Streeting's position.
firstly, Burnham has to win in Makerfield. As M/cr mayor, he polled 63% of the vote, which is 20+ points more than Labour polled in the general election, so there is definitely the Burnham factor in Greater M/cr to consider. Whilst Reform cleaned up in the local Makerfield council election recently, I'm not convinced they have enough support to return an MP, as most non reform voters will go for Burnham as MP, and Burnham's anti EU stance will no doubt placate many who would otherwise may consider voting Reform.
So assuming Burnham does get through, we could have a leadership contest of the unpopular Starmer, the pro-EU Streeting, and the as you were Burnham.
I'm an advocate of rejoining the EU, so Streeting would be my natural choice, however I've seen how Burnham's M/cr has bucked the trend and enjoyed 3%+ annual GSP growth for the past 10+ years. anyone who knows M/cr can see the city is buzzing, and its a very different place to where it was 20-30 years ago.
Could Burnham replicate such a success story on the national level?
firstly, Burnham has to win in Makerfield. As M/cr mayor, he polled 63% of the vote, which is 20+ points more than Labour polled in the general election, so there is definitely the Burnham factor in Greater M/cr to consider. Whilst Reform cleaned up in the local Makerfield council election recently, I'm not convinced they have enough support to return an MP, as most non reform voters will go for Burnham as MP, and Burnham's anti EU stance will no doubt placate many who would otherwise may consider voting Reform.
So assuming Burnham does get through, we could have a leadership contest of the unpopular Starmer, the pro-EU Streeting, and the as you were Burnham.
I'm an advocate of rejoining the EU, so Streeting would be my natural choice, however I've seen how Burnham's M/cr has bucked the trend and enjoyed 3%+ annual GSP growth for the past 10+ years. anyone who knows M/cr can see the city is buzzing, and its a very different place to where it was 20-30 years ago.
Could Burnham replicate such a success story on the national level?
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