Unseating Starmer: Burnham’s next move
6/19/202641 min
Andy Burnham has stormed the Makerfield by-election, clearing the pathway for him to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the top job in Downing Street. Starmer has vowed to defend his position, but will Burnham’s team be able to cajole him into resignation? Host Lucy Fisher is joined by Financial Times commentators, Inside Politics columnist Stephen Bush, political editor George Parker and Northern England correspondent Jennifer Williams to discuss what could play out in Westminster over the coming weeks, who a Burnham premiership would have as chancellor, and what Reform’s defeat in Makerfield means for Farage.
Follow: Lucy @LOS_Fisher or @lucyfisher.ft.com; Jen @JenWilliams_FT or @jenwilliamsft.bskyb.social; Stephen @stephenkb & @stephenkb.bsky.social and George @GeorgeWParker & @georgewparker.bsky.social
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLucy Fisher· Host0:03
How do you unseat a prime minister? Well, after a storming win for Andy Burnham in Makerfield, that's the goal he and his team are plotting as he heads for Westminster. Welcome to Political Fix from the Financial Times with me, Lucy Fisher. We've got one hell of a few days ahead of political maneuvering as the King of the North secured a seat in Parliament and is now sizing up Starmer's job. Will the PM bow out gracefully, or do we have a bloody power battle to look forward to? I'm joined in the studio by my FT colleagues, political editor George Parker. Hello, George.
George Parker· Panelist0:37
Hello, Lucy.
Lucy Fisher· Host0:37
Columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newsletter, Stephen Bush. Hi, Stephen.
Stephen Bush· Panelist0:41
Hi, Lucy.
Lucy Fisher· Host0:42
And down the line from Manchester, we've got our Northern England correspondent, Jen Williams. How are you feeling this morning, Jen? Have you had any sleep?
Jen Williams0:49
I am surprisingly awake. I'm more awake than I was after Gorton, and I'm more awake than I was after the local elections, so that's gotta be a win.
Lucy Fisher· Host0:57
Great. And Stephen, you had a brilliant tactic for how to use the evening before the results came in.
Stephen Bush· Panelist1:02
Yeah, I went to The Late Show at Ronnie Scott's, which was wonderful 'cause they've redecorated the upstairs recently. The, the food is very nice, and when we watched the saxophonist, Emma Ravetch, and then, uh, Cosmic Fusion, and then got out- [laughs] ... exactly at the point then people were going, "Oh, well, we've now sampled the boxes, and the results look great." So you kind of, you miss the sort of pointless bit where you're like, "Oh, well, nothing's actually happened." You just get out having had a great evening of some jazz, and then the news has actually started to happen.
Jen Williams1:29
It's all right for