Andy Burnham will make 'enormous contribution' if he comes back to national politics, says Lisa Nandy

The Culture Secretary was speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC amid speculation that the Mayor of Greater Manchester could be eyeing up a leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer, who is facing criticism as several key figures in his government have resigned or been fired in recent weeks.

Mr Burnham has run for Labour leader twice before, in 2010 and 2015, and has always been open to the idea of coming back to the fore.

With Angela Rayner leaving a gap in Labour, there have been talks that Mr Burnham could be the one to take her place.

Ms Nandy told Andrew Marr: "I love Andy and whatever he decides to do, I'll support him.

"I think he's been a fantastic champion for the north and whether he wants to do that as the Mayor of Greater Manchester or as a member of Parliament, I think he's got an enormous contribution to make."

Read more: Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell go head-to-head for Labour deputy leadership

Read more: Who is Andy Burnham and why is he being tipped to replace Sir Keir Starmer?

Lucy Powell, one of the frontrunners in the deputy leadership contest, has hit out at the "sexist" framing of the battle which she claims has seen it turned into a "proxy" battle for the Prime Minister and Mr Burnham.

Ms Powell is a long-time ally of Mr Burnham's and she's up against Bridget Phillipson, who is viewed as a Starmer loyalist, forcing them to contend with rumours that they're a stand-in for a future leadership contest.

Ms Nandy echoed her frustration at how the deputy leadership battle is being viewed with Andrew Marr.

She said: "But I would just say this, we've just had this series of reporting around the deputy leadership election where it's being reported that two of the strongest, most thoughtful, most impressive women that I know are being put forward by sections of the media as proxies for men.

"This is just depressing and ridiculous and we need to do better than that."