Key figures in one of the Labour factions thought to be backing Andy Burnham to become Labour leader have instead thrown their support behind home secretary Shabana Mahmood, in a significant blow to the Greater Manchester mayor.
Mr Burnham was officially unveiled as the Labour candidate for the Makerfield by-election on Tuesday, along with his Reform UK opponent, local plumber Robert Kenyon.
But influential peer Lord Maurice Glasman, who founded the Blue Labour movement on the right of the party, and veteran MP Graham Stringer made it clear that they were not willing to back Mr Burnham following discussion over his support to rejoin the EU.
The comments, made at a conference celebrating a decade since the Brexit referendum, suggested that the coalition of support within Labour for Mr Burnham to replace Sir Keir Starmer as party leader and prime minister appeared to be fracturing.
The Greater Manchester mayor’s supporters have already raised concerns about a dirty tricks campaign to prevent him from winning the by-election, with fingers pointed at allies of the prime minister and supporters of leadership hopeful Wes Streeting.
With Mr Streeting reopening the Brexit debate at the weekend with a call to rejoin the bloc as part of his own leadership pitch, focus has turned to Mr Burnham’s comments in September in favour of rejoining as he prepares to fight for a seat that voted heavily in favour of leaving the EU.
It also came as Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, announced that the publication of the next tranche of papers on Peter Mandelson has been delayed by at least a month.
Last week the Blue Labour movement publicly thanked former Makerfield MP Josh Simons for stepping down to make way for Mr Burnham describing it as “a noble decision and the right one for our party and our country”.
And previously, Blue Labour chair Dan Carden condemned Sir Keir for blocking Mr Burnham from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February.
But speaking at the Brexit Unleashed conference, Lord Glasman and Mr Stringer instead backed Ms Mahmood.
Lord Glasman said he has “no doubts” about wanting to see the home secretary Ms Mahmood lead the party.
“I don’t think that that’s a futile hope,” he told the conference.
“Let’s say Andy Burnham loses in Wigan and loses to Reform. I think that might concentrate the minds of Labour Party members quite clearly. So this is a fluid situation.”
He added: “The idea that our movement has produced a religious Muslim woman from Birmingham and Pakistani origin who’s a genuine patriot is actually a sign of great hope for us.”
Lord Glasman went on to say that he had been speaking to Blue Labour MP Jonathan Hinder about standing.
“If we don’t have someone telling the truth in this leadership campaign, we will drift further and further into the EU progressive fantasy world, and then come the election, we will be obliterated,” he said.
Mr Stringer said: “Of the three more or less named runners and riders, none of them appeal. Their policies I don’t think would be popular in the country, and if they’re popular in the Labour Party, that is a problem for the Labour Party. So I’m hoping Shabana or somebody else will come forward who will actually approach the real issues before this country.”
But in a boost for Mr Burnham, research by pollsters More in Common found that he is the best placed leadership hopeful to take on Nigel Farage.
In a straight head-to-head Mr Burnham, beat Mr Farage by 14 percentage points, Luke Tryl from More in Common said.
The Greater Manchester mayor also performed about 10 points better than Sir Keir Starmer against Mr Farage.
In a briefing on this month’s local election results, Mr Tryl said: “This is a hypothetical. One thing always to remember is, you know, when people go outside of Westminster, they tend to do better. But he performs about 10 points better than the prime minister against Farage.”
He added that a “Burnham bounce”, based on the Greater Manchester mayor’s personal popularity, was worth an estimated 20 points in the polls, making him the “narrow” favourite to win the constituency in next month’s by-election.
However, Mr Tryl warned that what happened during the election campaign could affect that outcome.
He said there was a “big question about Brexit, and how much does it hurt” candidates.
And he emphasised the importance of what the current row within Labour signifies.
“If looking at rejoin is taken as a sign (by voters in Makerfield) that people in Westminster and the Labour Party, in particular, have now decided to move on from the lessons of the 2016 vote… that is more dangerous,” he said.
Meanwhile, Robert Kenyon has been confirmed as Reform’s candidate. He recently won a seat in the council elections where Reform swept the board in the Wigan area.
Mr Kenyon also came second in the 2024 general election, losing to Labour’s Josh Simons by just 5,000 votes.
However, Reform has declined to answer questions over why the social media platform X has suspended Mr Kenyon’s account.
Nigel Farage and Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick are due to be in Makerfield to introduce Mr Kenyon as the candidate on Wednesday with the announcement of a new economic policy focused on the cost of living.