After a torrid eight months in office, Sir Keir Starmer's approval ratings have plummeted among party members, with a third now calling for a new leader before the next General Election.
Of those who said a new leader should take over from Keir Starmer in the Survation survey of party members for Labour List, over half (56.65 per cent) opted for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, despite him not being an MP.
This will surprise few who have been following Burnham's political career closely.
The 55-year-old has been praised for his leadership and policy initiatives over the years, with former Labour leader Neil Kinnock formally endorsing him during the 2015 leadership election, writing in The Guardian: "Labour needs a prime minister, not a debate. It needs Andy Burnham."
As a Member of Parliament, Burnham played a pivotal role in advocating for justice for the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
He's also benefited from the country's direction of travel, being a prominent voice for the north under the Conservatives “Levelling Up” agenda and Labour's plans to extend devolution to more of England's regions.
And last year, Burnham refused to rule out a run for Labour leader as Starmer’s popularity plummetted to levels lower than Rishi Sunak and Nigel Farage.
Over half of Labour voters calling for new leader back Burnham, despite him not being an MP
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Where did it all begin?
Burnham was born on January 7, 1970, in Aintree, Liverpool, to a telephone engineer father and a receptionist mother but raised in the Cheshire village of Culcheth.
Like many on the Left, the UK miners’ strike of 1984–1985 was a formative experience for Burnham that galvanised his political consciousness and drove him to join the Labour Party at the age of 15.
Upon becoming a Labour MP in 2001, Burnham took on junior Government roles and soon shot up the ranks.
By the time Gordon Brown became PM, Burnham was Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2007-2008). He then became Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2008-2009) and, finally, Secretary of Health (2009-2010).
After Labour’s defeat in the May 2010 elections and Gordon Brown’s resignation as party leader, Andy Burnham threw his hat in the ring. He came fourth out of the six candidates running in the leadership race, losing out to Ed Miliband.
Despite getting the backing of Kinnock, he lost his second leadership bid in 2015, finishing second to Jeremy Corbyn.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, as the most distinguished chapter in this political career would follow his successful run for Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017.
Upon his election in 2017, Burnham pledged to donate 15 per cent of his £110,000 annual salary to initiatives addressing homelessness in Greater Manchester. This commitment has been ongoing since his first term in office.
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The most distinguished chapter in Burnham's political career would follow his successful run for Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017
GB NEWSThe Greater Manchester Mayor entered the public's consciousness during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020.
His public standoff with then-Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson over financial support for Greater Manchester when the region was placed under stricter Tier 3 restrictions earned him the moniker "king of the north".
"What we've seen today is a deliberate act of levelling down," said Burnham, who failed to agree a financial support package for 2.8 million people about to be put into an even stricter lockdown.
His refusal to defer to a government that commanded an 80-seat majority earned him plaudits within the party and demonstrated his leadership qualities.
Under Burnham's leadership, Greater Manchester has also initiated plans to re-regulate its bus services, moving towards a franchising model similar to London's.
This shift aims to bring the bus network under greater public control, allowing for standardised fares, coordinated routes, and improved services. The goal is to create a more efficient and user-friendly public transportation system for the region.
This puts him to the Left of Starmer, who has stepped away from the nationalisation of key services like rail and utilities while playing well to voters who feel disillusioned by the Conservative government’s “Levelling Up” plan which promised to invest in regions outside London, but many feel that these promises have not materialised in meaningful ways.
It remains to be seen whether all this means he's the right man for the top job, but the timing would be auspicious: his third term is up in 2028 - a year before the next General Election.
