Sir Keir Starmer sought to put on a united front with Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham on Monday ahead of local elections expected to prove tricky for his Labour Party.
The Prime Minister insisted Labour would “take nothing for granted” in May’s poll as he visited a school in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, to talk up his policies on children’s health and education.
With Labour languishing in the polls and expected to lose council seats to Reform UK and the Green Party, the looming elections have come to be seen as a major test of Sir Keir’s leadership.
But he played down the possibility that he could resign if Labour suffered heavy defeats, telling reporters he had received a “five-year mandate to change this country” in 2024, adding: “I intend to carry through that mandate.”
Sir Keir was joined on the visit by his former deputy, Ms Rayner, and Great Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham, whose bid to contest the Gorton and Denton by-election was blocked by Labour’s ruling executive committee.
While the trio appeared united, sharing a joke as they sat with schoolchildren, Ms Rayner has become increasingly vocal in her criticism of the Government in recent weeks.
Comments attacking the Government’s plans to make it harder for immigrants to settle permanently in the UK and arguing Labour was “running out of time” to deliver have triggered speculation Ms Rayner is positioning herself to succeed Sir Keir should he quit.
Mr Burnham has also previously echoed her comments, saying he knew “where she’s coming from” and understood “the frustration people feel” following Labour’s defeat to the Greens in Gorton and Denton.
