Starmer v the ‘King of the North’ - who really won?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sir Keir Starmer has seen off a potential leadership challenge by blocking his rival – Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham – from returning to Westminster. But many Labour MPs have been deeply critical of the move, accusing the PM of orchestrating a “stitch up”. So was it worth it? And might Starmer face a leadership challenge anyway?
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Guest: Aubrey Allegretti, chief political correspondent for The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Micaela Arneson, Harry Stott.
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Read more: What happens next for Labour and Keir Starmer?
Further listening: Who will move first: Streeting or Burnham?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manvina. |
| 0:06.9 | For some, it was a power move. A show of strength, a sign that Seere Stama was still in charge and he'd managed to |
| 0:23.3 | block the man most likely to dislodge him by preventing Andy Burnham from fighting a |
| 0:28.8 | by-election that could have brought him back into Parliament. There's no question of me and Andy |
| 0:34.6 | not working very well together. He's doing an excellent job as the Mayor of Manchester. |
| 0:39.3 | But having an election for the Mayor of Manchester, when it's not necessary, would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have and that we must fight and win. |
| 0:51.3 | But for most, including many in his own party, it was the opposite, a sign of utter weakness, |
| 0:59.5 | poor leadership and terminal, unstoppable decline. |
| 1:04.8 | There'll be a lot of bloodletting in the Parliamentary Labour Party as a result of this decision. |
| 1:10.3 | I think it's incredibly disappointing. |
| 1:12.5 | It makes Keel weak by trying to be seen to be trying to block somebody from standing |
| 1:18.2 | on the basis he might challenge him as leader. |
| 1:20.7 | I think they've made a huge mistake. |
| 1:23.1 | I think they kind of underestimated how damaging it will be. |
| 1:28.8 | Keir Stama now needs to consider his own position as leader at this party. |
| 1:34.7 | Has Keir Stama ensured his own survival at the top? |
| 1:39.2 | Or has he hastened the end of his term in number 10? |
| 1:43.0 | How soon might a leadership challenge come? |
| 1:46.5 | And who will really benefit from all the psychodrama? |
| 1:50.0 | Reform? Or the Greens? |
| 2:09.0 | The story today, Starma versus the King of the North, who really won? I can't recall the last time that I had such an unsolicited wall of briefing from MPs so determined to bad mouth Andy Burnham. |
| 2:28.9 | It definitely felt concerted, deliberate and orchestrated. |
... |
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