ANDY Burnham "understands Scotland deeply" as he's from the north of England, a Labour MP has said.
Glasgow South West MP Zubir Ahmed was making an appearance on the BBC's Sunday Show when he made the claim, adding that Burnham had "a lot to offer" on how to run Scotland's biggest city.
It comes as Burnham prepares to mount a Labour leadership challenge after winning the Makerfield by-election last week.
Two other by-elections happened in Scotland on the same day in Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, with Labour coming fourth in both contests.
Aberdeen South was won by the Tories' Douglas Lumsden over the SNP, while the SNP's Lara Bird comfortably took Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.
Speaking about Labour's performance in the by-elections, Ahmed said: "There was never going to be an outcome where the Labour Party was in a winning position or competitive position in either of those by-elections even at our peak.
"Having said that, one of the reasons I resigned from the government is because it became quite obvious during the Scottish parliamentary elections that the mood music the Prime Minister was making in Downing street was not allowing us to be heard up in Scotland and that was one of the main reasons we were not able to cut through in the election."
Ahmed resigned as health innovation and safety minister in May after Labour's poor showing in the Holyrood election.
He went on to say Burnham had a deep understanding of Scotland and, if he became prime minister, would but a "big footprint" on Scotland.
Ahmed said: "I think a change of leadership is important down there, I think Andy by the way is someone who understands Scotland deeply, he’s from the north of England, and if the new leader of the Glasgow City Council is listening he may want to take a drive down to Manchester.
"He’s got a lot to offer as a blueprint as to how to run a big city like Glasgow in the future.
"If it’s him, or if it’s anyone else, there will be a big footprint of the new Labour Prime Minister in Scotland."
Keir Starmer is reportedly preparing to quit as Prime Minister potentially as early as Monday with just under a quarter of the party's MPs now calling for him to go.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly vowed not to walk away from his post, even as public talk of a leadership contest or handing power to Burnham has gained pace among Labour figures since he won the Makerfield by-election on Friday.
The number of Labour MPs calling for Starmer to go has since topped 100 and includes some who signed a letter warning against a leadership contest just last month.
On the Sunday Show, Ahmed was also asked if he would back the approval of the Rosebank oil field and Jackdaw gas field.
Jackdaw is located off the coast of Aberdeen while Rosebank is the UK's largest undeveloped oil field located 130 km north-west of Shetland.
Ahmed refused to answer, but added: "We can’t deny climate change, we can’t deny the need to get to net zero, but we also can’t in that process have false binaries or false choices, and I think one of he false choices being presented is that we need to shut down oil and gas as quickly as possible to transition to renewables.
"I think we can have a much more nuanced conversation around those issues and I think you will find some of that nuance being teased out as a consequence of some of these policy discussions that are going to happen as part of a leadership transition."
