Now that Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham have both effectively thrown their hats into the ring for a possible Labour leadership contest, their allies have been making the case for their man to replace Keir Starmer.
Here we take a look at who they are – and why they are supporting their candidate.
Andy Burnham
Josh Simons
Simons surprised Westminster this week by announcing he would stand down in his Makerfield seat to allow Mr Burnham to run for parliament. Previously seen as an ally of home secretary Shabana Mahmood he has warned Labour faces an “existential” crisis without Mr Burnham’s leadership.
Lucy Powell
Labour’s deputy leader is a longtime ally and close friend of the mayor of Greater Manchester. On Friday, she said she “fully supports” his bid to be the Labour candidate in Makerfield, adding: “We’ve got to do our politics differently, we’ve got to end the factionalism, we’ve got to embrace all the different traditions of the Labour Party, all the different voices and bring one team back together.
“And that means having Andy Burnham as a key player in that team, in my view.”
Heidi Alexander
The transport secretary is still a member of Keir Starmer’s cabinet and has said this week that he has her “full support”. But she is expected to back Mr Burnham if an election contest gets underway.
‘Soft Left’ Labour MPs
Many of the party’s “soft left” wing are understood to support Mr Burnham and back his call for what has been dubbed “Manchesterism” to be applied more widely across the country. They will have been buoyed by an interview he gave to Channel 4 News on Saturday in which he said: “We need a different path completely. What is that path? Put more things back under stronger public control: energy, housing, water, transport.
“I’ve done that with buses in Greater Manchester.”
Wes Streeting
Jess Phillips
The former minister resigned from Keir Starmer’s team last week. She has said the ex-health secretary showed the “bravery and boldness” needed in government. She told the BBC: “The prime minister does definitely care about violence against women and girls, don’t get me wrong, but what I see from Wes is bravery and boldness.”
Zubir Ahmed
The Glasgow South West MP also resigned this week – as a health minister – and is seen as a close ally of Mr Streeting. He also used his resignation letter to publicly criticise Sir Keir’s leadership.
Chris Curtis
With Mr Ahmed, another member of the 2024 intake which brought huge numbers of new Labour MPs to Parliament. The MP for Milton Keynes North, he is the influential chair of the influential Labour Growth Group, which campaigns on economic and planning reform.
Peter Kyle
The business secretary has so far remained loyal to Keir Starmer. But the Hove and Portslade MP is a close friend of Streeting. He was forced to deny they had plotted in the wake of the disastrous local election results, saying instead they had gone out to dinner and to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2.
MPs on the right of the Labour party
Mr Streeting is viewed with suspicion by some MPs on the left of the party, who fear he is too right-leaning. But his supporters argue he is the only one who can save Labour and the country from a Reform-led government after the next election.
