One trade union leader warned that the local elections next year could throw Labour into further disarray. They told the newspaper: “The public don’t like him or know what he stands for. If Reform sweep the board in the May elections in Wales he faces a serious moment of peril.”
Another said: “Obviously no one will get rid of him one year into a Labour government. But my worry is that we are going to be a one-term Labour government. Can he turn it around? I don’t know.”
Mr Burnham is posing a growing threat to the Prime Minister who is calling for more left-wing policies such as wealth taxes. The Manchester Mayor, dubbed King of the North, may have a route back to parliament following the suspension of MP Andrew Gwynne’s Greater Manchester seat.
Mr Gwynne was suspended earlier this year after he reportedly posted offensive messages in a WhatsApp group, and is understood to be off sick.
One Labour insider said: “Keir Starmer sacked too many Manchester City fans in his reshuffle. They are calling it the Etihad coup. The talk is Andrew Gwynne is ready to go – and if Labour HQ tried to parachute someone else in, Andy would win that battle.”
However, business secretary Peter Kyle suggested that Mr Burnham is better suited to regional politics.
He told Sky News: “I think he is doing an incredible job in Manchester at the moment, I think Manchester really needs him.”