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Andy Burnham says he would ‘one day’ consider running for PM as Labour leader
For now, Burnham said his role as mayor remains his top priority
Andy Burnham has revealed that he would ‘one day’ consider running for Prime Minister as Labour leader.
The Greater Manchester mayor said in a recent interview that while his focus remains on his current job and that he supports the party’s current leader Sir Keir Starmer, he will not rule out standing in the future.
Speaking on Sky News on Tuesday morning, Burnham was asked if he would ever consider running for Labour leader and ultimately PM, to which he responded: “Perhaps one day, if that would be something people would support.
“But not now because we’ve got a leader of the Labour Party who is providing leadership during the cost-of-living crisis and I’m happy to give my full support to Keir.
“And I’ve got a job to do in Greater Manchester… and I’m making big changes to public transport, which hopefully will get people through this, and that’s where my full focus is right now.”
He added: “I’ve said I’ll serve a full second term as mayor of Greater Manchester, if at some point way beyond this point that was [still] a possibility, I would consider it.
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“But I’m just focused on what I’m doing right now. We’re putting in place a whole range of support to help people through this crisis. That should be the sole focus of politicians right now.”
This comes after Burnham put his support behind Enough is Enough, a movement fighting against the rising cost of living.
The campaign has a series of demands, which include the energy price cap being cut to the pre-April level of £1,277 a year, a real-terms public sector pay rise, a reverse to the national insurance hike, and a £20-a-week universal credit increase.
The RMT Union leader Mick Lynch previously said of the campaign he is leading: “People are fed up with the way they are treated at work, we need to turn that mood into real organisation on behalf of the working class.
“We can’t be divided. We need everybody campaigning for a better deal.”