"The other day I compared the saga of Andy Burnham, his ambitions and the forthcoming by-election in Greater Manchester to a long and twisting marble run. If, and it was a big if, the marble trundled all the way to the bottom, it was possible to imagine Burnham as prime minister, before this year was out. But, as I said then, it was also possible the marble would fly off"
"the run spectacularly which is precisely what has now happened. In an exercise of brute power, which is simultaneously an illustration of how they perceive their own weakness, No 10 has scuppered Burnham's attempted run from Manchester to Westminster and perhaps on to Downing Street. Yes, this was a decision taken by a committee of the Labour Party, but allies of Sir Keir Starmer are making it perfectly clear he joined the remote meeting on Sunday morning"
"and he cast a vote to block Andy Burnham. The relationship between the two men has long been fascinating to observe. Burnham's first act in politics was very much as a creature of Westminster: an adviser, an MP for 16 years, a cabinet minister. He has run for the Labour leadership twice before. Here he is talking to me more than a decade ago about his ambition to be prime minister. He later reinvented himself"
Andy Burnham attempted to move from the Manchester mayoralty to a Westminster seat and pursue national leadership ambitions. No 10 intervened decisively, with Sir Keir Starmer attending a remote Labour committee meeting and casting a vote to block Burnham. The intervention is presented as an exercise of brute power that also signals perceived weakness. Burnham began as a Westminster figure — adviser, long-serving MP and cabinet minister — and later rebranded as Mayor of Greater Manchester. His national ambitions, previous leadership bids and high-profile interviews provoked irritation within Labour and prompted scrutiny of his relationship with Starmer.
Read at www.bbc.com
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