Burnham confirms he will run to replace Starmer as Prime Minister if he wins Makerfield by-election

Andy Burnham fired the starting gun on his campaign to become prime minister as he finally confirmed he will challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he wins the Makerfield by-election. During a BBC Question Time special in the seat, he told the audience the former health secretary Wes Streeting “seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that is running, I would seek to join it”. No 10 immediately hit back and said the process for challenging the Labour leader “has not been triggered” and Sir Keir “will not walk away”. open image in gallery Andy Burnham finally confirmed he will challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership (Reuters) Mr Burnham’s hopes of taking the seat, a prerequisite to becoming PM, were given a boost when only the second poll of the campaign put him on 49 per cent, up six points, ahead of his Reform opponent Robert Kenyon on 39 per cent, down one. Although popular in the area, which is part of Greater Manchester, where he is currently mayor, he still faces a battle to win the seat. Makerfield voted for Brexit in 2016 and Reform performed extremely well in the constituency in last month’s local elections. As he sought to win over undecided voters in the wake of Nigel Farage’s call for “fury” over the death of Henry Nowak, Mr Burnham side-stepped questions over claims of two-tier policing. He instead pointed to his relationship with the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Stephen Watson, who he said wanted to “make sure the police were seen as neutral, serving all communities, and therefore I backed him”. He also suggested the law should be reviewed after the teenager was stabbed to death by a man who claimed that, as a Sikh, he was carrying the knife for religious reasons. Asked if he would support a ban on people carrying knives for religous reasons, Mr Burnham said: “I think there's a case to look at that again.. Although it needs a very careful debate.” open image in gallery Robert Kenyon refused to apologise to Carol Vorderman (BBC/PA) And after the National Police Chiefs’ Council announced it will review guidance which advises police to treat ethnic minorities differently to get them better outcomes, he warned that anti-racism guidance has not “got it right”. “I think it’s right that the government are reviewing this…, because I don’t think this guidance that was issued related to the police race action plan has got it right,” Mr Burnham said.