‘Blocking Burnham was a mistake’, Rayner says as she warns it’s Labour’s ‘last chance for change’ in bombshell statement
The former cabinet minister warned it’s Labour’s “last chance” to “show we understand the scale of change".
Blocking Andy Burnham’s bid for the Labour leadership was a mistake, Angela Rayner has said - as she urged the party to change course following a disastrous local election.
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The former cabinet minister warned it’s Labour’s “last chance” to “show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for” after the party lost more than 1,400 seats across the country.
In an apparent swipe at Sir Keir Starmer, the MP said the Prime Minister “must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”
It comes as calls grow for the PM to quit - with Labour MP Catherine West telling LBC a cabinet minister must launch a leadership bid by tonight or else she will tomorrow.
"This is bigger than personalities, but it is time to acknowledge that blocking Andy Burnham was a mistake,” Rayner said on Sunday.
Burnham was blocked from standing in a by-election following a decision from Labour's ruling committee back in January.
Read more: Rebel MP vows to launch leadership challenge by Monday if 'unconvinced' by Starmer's plan
Many see the Manchester mayor as a viable candidate to replace Starmer and a by-election could have set him up for a leadership contest.
Backing Burnham, Rayner said:“ We must show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for - that means bringing our best players into Parliament - and embracing the type of agenda that has been successful at a local level, rather than reaching back to an agenda and politics that has failed people.”
She added: "These are the fights we need to have, and the change in direction we need to see. Policy tweaks will not fix the fundamental challenges facing our country. This government needs, at pace, to put measures in place that make people's lives tangibly better, while fixing the foundations of a system rigged against them.”
Rayner has herself also previously been tipped as a Starmer replacement.
She resigned from the Labour frontbench amid a row over her underpaying stamp duty, and was reported to be weighing a direct challenge to Sir Keir after the May 7 polls.In her statement on Sunday she was critical of some decisions made while she was in the Government: “The Peter Mandelson scandal showed a toxic culture of cronyism.
“Decisions like cutting winter fuel allowance just weren’t what people expected from a Labour government.”
Ms Rayner’s intervention came as Labour MP Catherine West threatened to launch a leadership bid unless Sir Keir’s speech on Monday can persuade her he understands the scale of the challenge facing the party.
The former minister has made clear her campaign is an attempt to force the Cabinet to get behind a candidate to move against Sir Keir rather than a credible challenge to win the keys to No 10 herself.
Rayner is understood to be one of the most serious challengers to succeed Sir Keir - alongside Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Streeting has allegedly told Sir Keir is preparing a “case” to become the next leader and will reveal it to Downing Street as early as next week, according to the Telegraph.
The Health Secretary reportedly told No 10 that he is not planning to challenge Sir Keir directly, but is readying the “case” for a leadership challenge if it “all falls apart” and a contest is triggered by different candidate.
It has previously been reported that the Health Secretary recruited more than 81 MPs – the minimum required to trigger a contest for the Labour leadership, and thus for Prime Minister.