Labour MP Clive Lewis has publicly offered to relinquish his parliamentary seat, potentially paving the way for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.
Speculation has been ongoing regarding Burnham’s potential bid for the leadership, a move that would require him to be a Member of Parliament.
Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Live, Lewis stated his willingness to step down from his Norwich South constituency to facilitate Burnham’s return to the House of Commons, emphasizing the need to prioritize “country before party, party before personal ambition.”
Requests for comment have been directed to Burnham. Number 10 has declined to comment on the matter.
Lewis, who has served as an MP for a decade, indicated that he has discussed the matter with Burnham, acknowledging the gravity of the decision to potentially vacate his seat.
He asserted, “If I’m going to sit here and say country before party, party before personal ambition, then yes, I have to say yes, don’t I.”
Last week, Lewis critiqued Sir Keir’s position as prime minister as “untenable” and suggested to Channel 4 News that Burnham should be given an opportunity to “step up.”
Subsequently, Kate Ferguson, political editor at The Sun, reported via X that Lewis clarified he had “no plans to stand down.”
She quoted Lewis as stating: “A hypothetical question was put to me, and my answer was consistent with what I’ve been saying, that I am serious about putting country before party.”
Lewis initially secured his seat in 2015 and increased his majority to over 13,000 in the last election.
Should Lewis resign, any potential successor would be subject to a selection contest before a by-election could be held.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who recently refuted claims of his own leadership ambitions, characterized Lewis’s move as “peculiar” during an interview with LBC.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Andy and I think we need our best players on the pitch,” Streeting commented.
He added: “And whether he’s doing that as mayor of Greater Manchester or whether he wants to come back into parliament in the next general election, that is an issue for Andy.”
“I think it’s a bit of a peculiar thing for Clive to have said to his own constituents, ‘Oh, well, I’m not interested in being your MP, I’m happy to do a deal with someone’.”
Streeting concluded: “I would just say from personal experience, don’t take your voters for granted.”
In September, Burnham stated he had “no intention of abandoning Manchester” yet did not dismiss the possibility of challenging Sir Keir following reports that colleagues had urged him to consider a leadership bid.
Prior to the party’s conference in September, Manchester Labour MPs Andrew Gwynne and Graham Stringer both ruled out stepping down to make way for Burnham.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir has affirmed his intention to lead Labour into the next general election. This declaration followed a challenging period marked by anonymous briefings to journalists suggesting some cabinet ministers, including Streeting, were plotting to remove him.
The ministers in question have denied these allegations. Speculation persists regarding a potential challenge to Sir Keir’s leadership in May, coinciding with anticipated unfavorable results for Labour in the Scottish and Welsh elections, as well as the English local elections.
Any prospective leadership candidate would need to secure the endorsement of 80 Labour MPs to initiate a formal bid.
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