Gary Neville should replace Andy Burnham as Manchester mayor, Labour insiders say

The "King of the North" Burnham is set to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election, after the seat was vacated by former minister Andrew Gwynne.

Burnham is yet to declare himself in the running, with reports suggesting allies of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are planning to block his return to Westminster over fears he could challenge for the leadership.

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There are several other obstacles stopping Burnham taking the seat, such as the financial cost it would inflict on the Labour Party if he stepped down before his mayoral run ends in 2028.

By opening up a Manchester mayoral election, Burnham would be diverting campaign funds away from other Labour council seats in May as the party attempts to stop Reform winning.

But one way of offsetting this fiscal burden would be for Labour to have a recognised name on the ballot - such as Neville.

Labour insiders believe the former Manchester United right-back is well-placed to be a candidate due to his instant name recognition and a history of supporting the Labour Party.

“If you’re Andy it’s better to have the promise of a big gun rather than popping some unknown council leader on the ballot as the mayoral candidate, then [the mayoralty] falling to Nigel Farage,” the Labour insider told the i Paper.

"I think he has somebody in mind in the shape of Gary Neville. Whether or not the party members would respond to that I don’t know."

Neville is a Labour member and appeared with Starmer in an election party political broadcast.

He has not indicated that he wants to stand.

Burnham has spent the past year hinting that he may return to Westminster, having been touted by many Labour MPs as the person to replace Starmer as party leader and prime minister after a difficult 18 months in power.

On Friday, Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock suggested on urnham should stay in his Greater Manchester comfort zone.

He told BBC Breakfast Burnham is “doing a great job in the role that he currently has” and is “an incredibly talented and effective leader as the mayor of Greater Manchester."

David Lammy also urged Burnham not to “rock the boat” by moving against Sir Keir Starmer.

The Deputy Prime Minister said any move to replace the PM would led to an early general election, which the party would be on track to lose.

"All of us are in the business of Labour politics and all of us have got to be seen to be getting on with serving working people," Lammy said.

"And parties that air their dirty linen in public, that fight and bitch and moan, usually are a huge turn-off to the electorate. We are in the midterms, that’s effectively what the elections in May represent.

"The midterms are always challenging for incumbent governments. In the end, we will be judged at the four, four-and-a-half, five-year point, which is some way off. And we will have to demonstrate to the British people improvement.

"Please do not let us rock the boat and blow it which Labour governments have done throughout their history. That was why Labour was only in power in the 20th century for 22 years. Let’s not make that mistake again."