Starmer rebuffs renewed talk of Andy Burnham leadership challenge

PM says Burnham doing really good job' as Manchester mayor and urges colleagues not to brief against each other

Keir Starmer has attempted to dampen the latest round of speculation about his leadership, insisting that one of his potential rivals, Andy Burnham, is doing a really good job as mayor of Manchester" and warning colleagues not to waste their time briefing against each other.

The prime minister gave his backing to Burnham on Thursday night as he travelled to the G20 summit in Johannesburg, after the Greater Manchester mayor repeatedly failed to rule out challenging Starmer for his party's leadership during interviews on Thursday.