ANDY Burnham would beat Starmer in a leadership contest, a recent poll of Labour members has found.
Having kicked off his campaign with two major U-turns on Brexit and fiscal policies, the mayor of Greater Manchester appears to be in a good spot for the PM position.
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A poll of 700 Labour members has found that Andy Burnham would beat Starmer in a leadership contest Credit: Ian Whittaker
He has said he would keep the UK out of the EU and would keep the Chancellor’s current fiscal policies Credit: Reuters
The YouGov survey of 706 members found that Burnham would win 56 per cent of their vote.
It was the greatest support for a party member, trumping Starmer, who only received 37 per cent.
But it is not just the PM that Burnham would crush, with polling also showing he would beat Wes Streeting with 80 per cent of the vote to 10 per cent.
With a majority of the members who took part in the poll saying the PM should quit, the mayor is a clear favourite in the contest for the Labour leadership.
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He will first have to win the Makerfield by-election on June 18, which was triggered by Josh Simons stepping down as MP.
After getting a seat in Parliament, Burnham will have a chance for the top spot in the party.
He has already begun his campaign, setting his plans for the future of Labour.
Having previously said that Brexit should be reversed, he has now stated that he will not be bringing the UK back into the EU and will “respect” the 2016 referendum.
He said: “My view is Brexit has been damaging, but the last thing we should do is re-visit these arguments.
“I’m not proposing the UK rejoin the EU. I respect the referendum.”
Burnham’s rival, the Health Secretary, last weekend advocated for rejoining the EU – dividing the two further on the future of the Labour Party.
But it is not just Brexit that Burnham has had to U-turn on, with his team announcing that he would continue with the current fiscal rules in place.
Having previously suggested that he would pay for extra defence spending through additional borrowing, he has now decided to side with Reeves’ borrowing rules.
But after saying that government should move from being “in hock” to the bond market, questions arise as to where Burnham would get the necessary investment from for his future plans.
During the campaign, he has made a wish list of bringing chunks of the water and energy industry back into public ownership.
As well as wanting to renationalise rail operators, his bold economic plans involve a sizeable amount of investment, which he has not said where it would come from.
He has in the past favoured a 50 per cent income tax and a higher council tax for homes in London and the South East.
But with the Chancellor’s current fiscal rules in place, and public finances getting tighter than ever from the fallout of the Iran war, all eyes will again be on taxes as Burnham heads towards the leadership contest.
