Streeting Allies Push Ten-Week Timetable; “Bargain for Best Cabinet Position” if Burnham Wins
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 Makerfield. 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 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%; Burnham beats Starmer 59% to 37% in a head-to-head.
Just 15% of Labour members said they would back Streeting in a straight race against Starmer; Burnham’s commanding 80%-10% Streeting-head-to-head lead is the structural reason Streeting’s allies are looking at a cabinet bargain rather than a fight to the finish. Allies of Defence Minister Al Carns — the Selly Oak armed-forces minister who visited the RFA Lyme Bay at Gibraltar to inspect the UK-France mine-clearing operation — have separately said they expect him to stand as a third leadership candidate if a contest is triggered. The 81-MP threshold is the structural gatekeeper for any candidate: Burnham and Streeting’s teams have both claimed to have the 81 numbers; neither has demonstrated them publicly.