Wes Streeting says he will not allow an Andy Burnham coronation

Labour leadership hopeful Wes Streeting says that he will not allow an Andy Burnham coronation should a leadership race be triggered, vowing to stay in any potential race and to test the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s ideas.

Streeting made the comments during an interview with Bloomberg, ahead of a crucial by-election in Makerfield which Burnham is hoping to win so that he can return to Parliament.

After a difficult set of local election results for the Labour Party which saw it lose hundreds of council seats, close to 100 Labour MPs called on the Prime Minister to resign. Streeting quit the cabinet, saying he had lost faith in the Prime Minister and called for a contest with a wide field of candidates. Starmer however has insisted that he is going nowhere and is focused on the job.

Burnham, who is believed to be the favoured candidate of the ‘soft left’ will only be able to challenge for the leadership should he become an MP.

Both Streeting and Burnham have been setting out their leadership stalls in recent weeks, announcing what they would do differently and setting out their vision for the future direction of the party.

While Burnham may be the favourite in some quarters, Streeting has refused to give up without a fight.

Asked if he would stand aside for Burnham should he win in Makerfield, Streeting told Bloomberg: “I can see Andy’s strengths, I think he needs to be tested. I think his ideas need to be tested and so do mine.

“I’m probably a rare thing in the Labour Party, I’m a monarchist. But this is one coronation that I’m not enthusiastic about.

“I think you need a debate. I think you need a battle of ideas. He needs to set out his stall, I need to set out mine.”

Streeting said any contest should be about ideas and who has the right answers  for the country.