Keir Starmer has attempted to dampen the latest round of speculation about his leadership, insisting that one of his potential rivals, Andy Burnham, is doing a “really good job as mayor of Manchester” and warning colleagues not to waste their time briefing against each other.
The prime minister gave his backing to Burnham on Thursday night as he travelled to the G20 summit in Johannesburg, after the Greater Manchester mayor repeatedly failed to rule out challenging Starmer for his party’s leadership during interviews on Thursday.
Burnham’s comments reignited speculation over the prime minister’s future, with his party languishing in the polls and days away from a tax-raising budget that could define the rest of his term in office.
Starmer said: “Andy’s doing a really good job as mayor in Manchester and we work very closely together.”
He added: “Only two days after Labour party conference we were in Manchester together in the aftermath of the terrible attack on the synagogue there. I spoke to Andy as soon as I heard about that attack when I was in Denmark. It was one of the first calls I made to get an assessment on the ground. I spoke to him the next day then I went up and met him and went through the briefings.
“He’s doing a really good job as the mayor of Manchester.”
Starmer urged his colleagues not to brief against him or others in the party after his own allies fuelled the leadership speculation by telling reporters they believed the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to be planning a coup attempt.
“We need to focus on what matters to the country, and what matters to the country above all else is the cost of living and that’s where my focus is,” he said. “Every minute we’re not focused on that is a minute that is wasted in the government.”
The prime minister was speaking on his way to the G20 summit in South Africa, where he will announce a number of trade deals and attempt to rally international support for Ukraine.
But much of his government’s attention is on domestic matters, with his chancellor finalising a potentially contentious budget and possible leadership candidates jostling for position.
Burnham restarted talk over his leadership ambitions this week as he declined to rule out challenging Starmer in the future.
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The Manchester mayor has kept a relatively low profile since the Labour party conference this year, when he attracted attention for criticising the direction of Starmer’s government.
Burnham was asked repeatedly about his plans during a round of interviews to publicise his new £1bn growth plan for Greater Manchester, but would only say only that he did not know what the future held.
“I haven’t launched any leadership challenge,” he told BBC Breakfast. “I’m not going to sit here this morning and rule out what might or might not happen in future – I don’t know what the future will hold.”
His comments came after Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, said he would stand down if Burnham wanted to fight his seat. If Burnham does seek a seat in parliament, however, it is expected to be in the north-west.
Meanwhile, Starmer has also insisted that journalists should be treated with respect after the US president, Donald Trump, told a female reporter: “Quiet, piggy”.
The prime minister said he had been told about the comments and did not want to comment directly on them.
He added, however: “My approach is that I will always be respectful to journalists whatever questions they’re putting to me … It’s really important to keep that principle of respect for journalists who are doing actually a really important job, certainly in the UK, in our democracy.”
