‘It’s Andy or bust’: MPs could keep Starmer in place to give Burnham time to return

Labour MPs are reportedly urging colleagues to demand Burnham's return in order to position him as Starmer's eventual successor

If Keir Starmer is looking for a saviour to keep him in No 10 after the May elections and the scandal of the Mandelson saga, there is an unlikely figure in the north-west who might help him - temporarily.

It has been the week where the prime minister seemed at his most isolated. But Labour MPs told the Guardian they were urging colleagues not to depose Starmer next month, and were instead preparing to demand that Andy Burnham return to parliament in order to succeed him before the next general election.