A LABOUR MP has made an extraordinary offer to give up his seat so that Andy Burnham can return to Parliament and challenge prime minister Keir Starmer for the party leadership.
Clive Lewis, who represents Norwich South, told the BBC that he would be willing to vacate his seat to allow the Greater Manchester mayor to mount a leadership challenge.
The dramatic offer comes as speculation grows about Starmer's future, with Labour languishing in third place in opinion polls behind Reform UK and the Conservatives.
When pressed on whether he would genuinely stand aside, Lewis said: "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?" He added that he would need to consult his wife and family but confirmed: "I would, yes."
The Norwich South MP, who retained his seat with a majority of over 13,000 at last year's general election, later told The Sun he had "no plans" to stand down and was simply answering a hypothetical question.
Burnham responded cautiously to the offer on BBC Breakfast, saying: "I appreciate the support but I'm here this morning to do my job." When asked whether he would rule out challenging Starmer, he said: "I'm not going to rule out what might or might not happen in the future."
For a leadership challenge to take place, 20 per cent of Labour MPs would need to support a candidate to replace Starmer. With 405 Labour MPs, this means 81 MPs would need to back a challenger. Also, Starmer would automatically appear on the ballot paper in any contest.
For Burnham to challenge, he would first need to resign as mayor, win a Westminster seat in a by-election, and then secure nominations from at least 80 MPs. If Lewis were to stand down, any successor would need to win a selection contest before a by-election could be held.
Labour members and affiliated trade unions would vote in the leadership ballot, with timing decided by Labour's National Executive Committee.
Meanwhile, the prime minister faces mounting difficulties. Reform UK leads the polls on 27 per cent, with Labour on just 19 per cent, the Conservatives on 17 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats on 13 per cent. The Green Party has also reached its highest-ever polling position.
Last week saw damaging anonymous briefings from Downing Street suggesting health secretary Wes Streeting was plotting a challenge, which he denied. The briefing war became so toxic that Starmer was forced to apologise to Streeting, who complained of a "juvenile" culture in Number 10.
Lewis said last week that Labour was in an "intolerable situation" and called for Starmer to resign. He suggested the next leader should be "someone that has the confidence of the British public, MPs, that can run a large organisation, that has government experience, and those people are few and far between".
Burnham was rumoured to be considering a leadership bid in September, when he told the Telegraph that MPs had privately urged him to challenge Starmer. He criticised Downing Street for creating a "climate of fear" and causing "alienation and demoralisation" within the party.
Labour MPs say a challenge is more likely if the party performs badly in Scottish, Welsh and English local elections in May next year. However, Labour has never successfully removed a sitting prime minister in its 125-year history.
(with inputs from Reuters)
