𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham has held secret talks with Sue Gray, Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, on how to seize power and form a government if he returns to Westminster and topples the Prime Minister, it has been claimed. The discussions come as Labour’s internal succession frenzy spirals ahead of the high-stakes Makerfield by-election, with senior figures treating Mr Burnham’s potential comeback as a serious threat to Sir Keir’s grip on No 10 following disastrous local election results.

Ms Gray — who served as Sir Keir’s powerful chief of staff from the opposition years through the early months of Government until her abrupt resignation in October 2024 — advised Mr Burnham on managing a future transition into Downing Street. The pair have known each other for decades, dating back to Mr Burnham’s time as a minister in Tony Blair’s Government when Ms Gray worked in the Cabinet Office.

Ms Gray is best known for her explosive Partygate investigation in 2021-22, where as a senior civil servant she led the probe into lockdown-breaking parties in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street, delivering a damning report that exposed a culture of rule-breaking at the heart of government.

She later gave evidence to the official Covid-19 Inquiry. In Sir Keir’s administration, she acted as his chief enforcer and gatekeeper in No 10 but quit amid hostile briefings, accusations of “control freakery,” and creating bottlenecks that delayed decisions.

Sources close to the talks stressed Ms Gray is not expected to take any formal role in a future Burnham-led government, The Guardian reported.

Allies of the Greater Manchester mayor insist he remains laser-focused on winning Makerfield, seen as a critical test of Labour’s collapsing support in its heartlands.

A recent Survation poll showed Mr Burnham on 43% for Labour against Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon on a shocking 40% in what was once rock-solid territory. Nationally, a More in Common survey put Labour at just 30% under Mr Burnham’s hypothetical leadership, only narrowly ahead of Reform on 27%.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Sir Keir’s chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, slammed the manoeuvring as “fantasy politics” while simultaneously praising Mr Burnham as a “brilliant politician” and confirming he would campaign for him.

Mr Jones warned against distraction from governing, saying: “Labour must not hand the country to Reform.”

Yet the optics tell a different story. Wes Streeting — viewed as a potential leadership rival — joined deputy leader Lucy Powell in campaigning for Mr Burnham, while chief whip Jonathan Reynolds was pictured with a “Burnham for Makerfield” poster.

Mr Streeting has been openly positioning himself with calls for a “wealth tax that works” and a “proper contest” over Labour’s direction.

Speaking at the Hay Festival, former foreign secretary David Miliband urged a focus on policy over personalities, criticising Sir Keir’s government for not scaling up reforms aggressively enough in apprenticeships, renewable energy and welfare.

Mr Burnham has distanced himself from rejoining the EU while pushing greater public control over transport, housing and energy — signals of a more interventionist pitch that appeals to disillusioned voters.

The revelations expose deep fractures in Labour as Sir Keir’s authority wanes and ambitious figures prepare for a post-Starmer era. With Reform breathing down their necks, the party’s civil war risks becoming a gift to its populist rivals.