Keir Starmer held a secret meeting with Andy Burnham in a bid to bury the hatchet with his leadership rival.
It was their first face-to-face conversation since the Prime Minister prevented the Greater Manchester Mayor from contesting a parliamentary seat in Gorton and Denton.
The summit took place behind closed doors at Mr Burnham’s office, with neither politician accompanied by advisers and no photographs released from the discussion.
Rather than sitting at the formal meeting table, Sir Keir and Mr Burnham opted for the more relaxed setting of comfortable armchairs while sharing coffee.
“It was a nice, friendly chat,” one Labour insider said.
Meanwhile, a Downing Street source assured: “It was a regular catch-up. It was warm and friendly. They’ve known each other for years.”
Neither man acknowledged any friction during their initial meeting since the controversial decision, according to those familiar with the discussion, per The i Paper.
Last month, the Prime Minister and other senior figures on Labour’s national executive had refused to permit Mr Burnham to resign his mayoral position and seek a return to Westminster.
Keir Starmer held a secret meeting with Andy Burnham behind closed doors
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They cited concerns about the expense of triggering a fresh election for the regional post.
Despite the snub, Mr Burnham has thrown himself into supporting Labour’s candidate Angeliki Stogia in Gorton and Denton.
The Greater Manchester Mayor has recorded campaign videos and personally written postcards to local voters, urging them not to desert Labour.
Gorton and Denton became up for grabs after Andrew Gwynne submitted his resignation last month, citing ill health.
The Manchester Mayor was blocked from standing in Gorton and Denton
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Despite this, Mr Burnham appeared to take a veiled swipe at the Prime Minister in the days following a serious challenge to his premiership earlier this month.
After Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Sir Keir to resign, the Manchester mayor said the Prime Minister “has my support”.
However, he qualified this comment by adding: “The Government has my support, and they had my support when I put myself forward for the by-election.”
“What I am calling for very clearly today is for the unity to create the stability, to give the Government the platform, to focus on all of the things that I’m talking about today.”
Aiming at infighting within the Labour Party, the Manchester Mayor said: “We need to sort of dial down all of this constant briefing.
“It’s seemingly a bit endless, some of the anonymous briefings going around. I think we just need to focus on what’s in front of us.”
News of Sir Keir’s secret meeting comes as he prepares to face Prime Minister’s Questions for the first time since the arrests of his former US ambassador, Peter Mandelson, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and others will be hoping to land a blow on the Prime Minister after his administration was rocked by details emerging over Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The news comes as Sir Keir continues to escape the Peter Mandelson scandal
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The former Labour peer was sacked from the plum diplomatic role in September, with more files coming to light since. On Monday, Peter Mandelson was arrested and released on bail on suspicion of misconduct in office.
On Tuesday, the Government announced it would not release some files relating to the appointment of Andrew as the UK’s trade envoy and Lord Mandelson’s involvement in the process.
The Liberal Democrats launched a bid to force the publication of such documents, which successfully passed as a motion, without the need for a vote, utilising a rare “humble address” procedure to compel the Government.
However, Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant confirmed the Government would not be able to unseal some documents as the Liberal Democrats attempted to compel their release today.
Sir Chris said that some files would remain unpublished until the police are “satisfied” they are no longer needed for their inquiries.
