The Prime Minister has paid tribute to one of “Manchester's great heroes” who is leaving his job after almost a decade.
In a jokey dig at his potential leadership rival Andy Burnham, Sir Keir Starmer praised Pep Guardiola who is reportedly stepping down from his role as Manchester City manager.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir told the Commons: “It would be remiss of me not to comment on one of Manchester’s great heroes moving on after almost a decade, so let me congratulate Pep Guardiola on all his success at Manchester City.”
He added: “And if I could declare an interest, I’d also like to say congratulations to Arsenal Football Club on becoming the Premier League champions.”
It comes after Mr Burnham, who was first elected the Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, was named as Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield parliamentary by-election.
If he wins, Mr Burnham is expected to launch a Labour leadership challenge.
He began setting out his stall for a potential bid to become Prime Minister, saying he would "change Labour" after being selected to fight the seat.
But Sir Keir has insisted he will not "walk away and plunge the country into chaos".
Mr Burnham said he was “proud and humbled” to have been selected as Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election.
“These proud working-class communities represent the very best values of our country and they deserve so much better,” he said.
“It would be my honour to work for them every day, if elected as their MP, to achieve that.
“Many people here feel Westminster isn’t working for them and they are right. I am standing to change that and get the voice of these communities heard loud and clear.
“I am glad that this by-election has finally put the places that make up the Makerfield constituency into the national spotlight.
“They have been neglected by national politics for too long. It is a good thing that all political parties are now on the hook to tell the voters here what they are going to do for them.”
