Streeting “Coronation” Talk Hardens — Ten-Week Timetable, Bargaining Begins
Senior allies of Wes Streeting say he is likely to abandon his Labour leadership bid and fall in behind Andy Burnham if the Greater Manchester mayor wins the Makerfield by-election. Figures organising for the former health secretary said there is an emerging feeling that “no one can beat Andy” if Burnham makes it back to parliament. One Streeting ally: “The consensus among the team is that if Andy wins Makerfield, it turns to bargaining for the best possible secretary of state position. If he loses, that’s a different matter.” Those closest to Streeting are pushing for a “ten-week timetable” — a four-week by-election campaign followed by a six-week Labour leadership contest.
A YouGov poll of Labour members shows Burnham beating Streeting 80% to 10% in a potential leadership race that does not involve Starmer. Just 15% of members said they would back Streeting in a straight race against Starmer. Burnham himself won 66% of the vote in Wigan in the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election. The “coronation” talk among Burnham’s allies is the most explicit signal yet that the Makerfield by-election has been recast as a quasi-leadership primary — with the broader Labour membership reading the outcome as a referendum on Burnham’s candidacy. The Streeting platform — wealth tax to revive Sure Start, planning reforms to fund council homes — would then become a bargaining position for a major secretary-of-state portfolio under a Burnham premiership.