His comments come after Burnham was re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor
Andy Burnham, who was re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor yesterday after receiving over 69 per cent of votes, said that his main main focus is to support the people of Greater Manchester and to help the Labour Party.
However, his performance in the elections has caused widespread speculation that Burnham could attempt to become the leader of the party in the future.
Speaking to Sky News, Burnham made a thinly veiled reference to becoming the leader of the Labour party and openly attacked Keir Starmer’s decision to sack Angela Rayner.
He said: “In the distant future, if the party were ever to feel like it needed me, I’m here and they should get in touch.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/COpc1MyoYTP/
Burnham added that the party “needs to change”, adding that Labour cannot merely make “cosmetic changes”, but rather “substantial changes in the way that the party Labour party is working.”
He said: “They have lost an emotional connection with parts of the country that is going to take a lot of work to get back.
“I think the party has to do a lot of soul searching about these results and understand why we have done well in places like Wales and Greater Manchester.”
He said the party now needs to “build from the bottom up.”
Andy Burnham refused to rule out running for Labour leadership in the future, after he was re-elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester by a landslide.
Get today's top stories: https://t.co/10dCJrzKp3 pic.twitter.com/JJacyVGrwm
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 9, 2021
Burnham said that, for now, his focus lies with the people of Greater Manchester.
What can I say other than a massive thanks to you all.
Best job in the world in the best city-region in the world.
I will continue to give it my all for you.
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) May 8, 2021
Following Starmer’s decision to sack Angela Rayner as chair of the party after Labour’s poor performance, Burnham said that he did not support the decision.
After re-tweeting a story about Rayner being sacked as Labour chair, Burnham said: “I can’t support this.”
I can’t support this.https://t.co/mbmGHaROdL
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) May 8, 2021
The move comes after Starmer said he will take “full responsibility” for “fixing things” within the party.
Starmer told Sky News: “Very often, we’ve been talking to ourselves instead of to the country, and we’ve lost the trust of working people, particularly in places like Hartlepool.
“I intend to do whatever is necessary to fix that.”
