Angela Rayner has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer, declaring Andy Burnham should “not have been blocked” from running for the Gorton and Denton by-election.
In a keynote speech to the Communication Workers Union conference in Bournemouth, Ms Rayner declared it was a “mistake” for the Mayor of Greater Manchester not to be allowed to stand as a candidate in the election.
Ms Rayner said: “So let me be honest conference. We as a party have to do better than this. And we can only prove we mean our Labour values by putting the common interest ahead of factionalism.
“And we can start by accepting that Andy Burnham should never have been blocked. It was a mistake that the leadership of our party should put right.”
The Deputy Prime Minister argued that they must “make politics work for ordinary people”, calling for “change now” from the Government.
She said: “We have to show that we understand the scale of the response that the moment calls for by rejecting factionalism, uniting our movement, apologising for our mistakes, but learning from our successes.
“We must make politics work for ordinary people with an economic agenda to make people better off change how we run our party and how we do politics.
“Labour exists to make working people better off, and that is not happening fast enough, and that needs to change now.”
Angela Rayner has launched a scathing attack on Keir Starmer, declaring Andy Burnham should ‘not have been blocked’ from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election
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Addressing the ongoing cost of living crisis, Ms Rayner argued that working class people are “paying the price for the decisions that they didn’t make”.
She told the conference: “People feel hopeless that the cost of living crisis will never end, and now see the oil and gas companies using global instability to post record profits.
“It’s no wonder that across the UK, people feel that the system is rigged against them, and the Labour Party must now live up to its name.”
Ms Rayner declared that the Labour Government “must be the party for the working people”.
Angela Rayner said ‘as a party have to do better than this’
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She said: “We must be the party for working people. The Prime Minister today acknowledged the frustration that was expressed last week, but we will be judged on actions and not just our words.
“I’m proud of our Labour values, but they’re not enough. If we do not have a plan to put them into practice, it’s no good acknowledging the mistakes if they’re not put right.”
Addressing last week’s local elections, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed her disappointment for “many good Labour colleagues” who have lost their seats.
Ms Rayner said: “This has not been an easy moment. Our party has suffered historic defeats. Many good Labour colleagues have lost their seats.
“People who gave everything for their communities that they represented, and it’s clear that what we’re doing isn’t working and it needs to change.”
Keir Starmer has denied a rift with Andy Burnham in his speech today
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PAKeir Starmer has denied a rift with Andy Burnham in his own speech to the nation today.
Earlier this year, Mr Burnham applied to be the Labour Party candidate in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election, but his candidacy was blocked by the party’s National Executive Committee.
Sir Keir said of the alleged rift: “In relation to Andy Burnham, obviously any future decision is for the NEC. Andy’s doing a great job as mayor in Manchester and I actually work really well with Andy.
“And I’ll give you two examples, on Northern Powerhouse rail which is really important for the north-west, we are working together on that project, but equally we’ve stood together to support Manchester and the community.
“When we had the terrible attack on a synagogue last year Andy was the first person I phoned and I went straight to Manchester to work with him on our response. So we work very well together but the actual decision will be one for the NEC.”