Andy Burnham says he 'can't support' the sacking of MP Angela Rayner as Labour Party chairman.
The newly re-elected mayor of Greater Manchester aired his views on social media last night after the news emerged.
Ms Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, remains deputy leader of the party, which is led by Sir Keir Starmer, but was sacked from her role as chairman after Labour's poor showing in the 'Super Thursday' elections,
Labour received a drubbing in the local elections in England, losing control of a host of councils and suffering defeat at the hands of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in the Hartlepool by-election – the first time the North East constituency has gone blue since its inception in the 1970s.
The sacking of Ms Rayner as national campaign co-ordinator signals cracks at the top of the party, with rows over who was to blame for the election strategy that saw losses in Labour’s traditional heartlands in the North and Midlands.
Mr Burnham, who won a second term as mayor yesterday with an increased share of the vote, on an increased turnout, from 2017, reacted to a news article about the development.
He posted: "I can't support this."
The mayor is yet to comment further.
Despite the change at the top, Ms Rayner will remain as deputy leader, having been elected to the post by party members.
Speaking on Friday, leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was 'bitterly disappointed' with the results and vowed to take responsibility and to fix Labour’s election woes.
But former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the decision to remove Ms Rayner – a former social care worker who hails from Stockport – as Labour’s chairman and campaigns chief was a “cowardly avoidance of responsibility”.
Clive Lewis, another MP from the left-wing of the party, branded the situation a 'mess'.
Mr McDonnell tweeted: “Keir Starmer said yesterday that he took full responsibility for the election result in Hartlepool and other losses.
"Instead today he's scapegoating everyone apart from himself. This isn’t leadership, it’s a cowardly avoidance of responsibility."
Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, posted on social media: "I can’t put into words how disappointed I am right now about the sacking of Angela Rayner."
As well as the shock defeat in Hartlepool, Labour had a net loss of six councils and more than 200 seats in the local elections, losing control of the likes of Harrow, Essex, and Plymouth local authorities in the process.
The party also failed to topple Tory mayoral incumbents in the Tees Valley and the West Midlands, although did produce a surprise victory in the West of England mayoral contest and comfortable wins in Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region.
