Aside from Nigel Farage, whose eccentric ideas about the conservation of swans and provisional approach to policy seem to be getting the better of him, the most formidable opponent Sir Keir Starmer currently faces comes from within his own party.
With what amounts to a soft launch of a leadership bid via media interviews and a rudimentary manifesto, Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester and supposed “King in the North”, has further destabilised Sir Keir’s wobbly hold on his party’s loyalties. Mr Burnham pleads that it’s up to Labour MPs to decide their leader, but his reluctance to rule himself out is disingenuous. If he wished, he could kill all the speculation dead with one interview.
