‘Hold the line’: Burnham tells allies in parliament he still has options to return

Greater Manchester mayor seeks to reassure his supporters after potential seats for him fail to materialise

Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs they should hold the line and that he has options to return to parliament after several seats identified by allies of the Greater Manchester mayor failed to materialise.

Two seats his backers had described as nailed on" as recently as Monday night are now out of contention after the MPs concerned got cold feet.