Plotting Labour MPs must get behind Keir Starmer and stop trying to overthrow him, Shabana Mahmood has insisted.
The Home Secretary claimed the embattled leader is “not going” despite rival Andy Burnham allegedly eyeing up a return to Westminster to lay the groundwork for a future challenge.
Mr Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, is poised to run in an upcoming by-election, allies claimed.
Strategists working for the Prime Minister’s arch rival have drawn up a shortlist of potential target seats in the North West, including the Greater Manchester seat currently held by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne.
But Mr Burnham broke his silence on Sunday morning, claiming: “Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place.”
While Home Secretary Ms Mahmood admitted “every single person” has thought about the top job, she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: “Well, Keir Starmer is not going.”
Asked again, she said: “Every single person has thought about it, of course they have, but that is not the same as plotting to overthrow a Prime Minister for God’s sake.
“The Prime Minister is getting on with doing his job. I am a member of his Government. I have a big job of my own to do, and that is the only thing I’m focused on.”
And Ms Mahmood, herself tipped as a future leadership contender, said senior Labour figures should “focus on the day job” of delivering for the public.
Commenting on growing discontent within the Labour Party, the Home Secretary said: “I think that all of us in Government and in the Labour Party have a responsibility to focus on the day job and to get on with delivering for the British people.
“I was on your show just a few weeks ago, and I made this point that every single minute you have in government is precious, and it’s a huge privilege and an honour to be the government of your country, and we mustn’t waste a single second of it.
“So actually, this is on the whole of the government and all of the parliamentary Labour Party and the whole Labour movement to make sure we don’t waste a single second of the time that we have in government.”
She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “Labour governments don’t come along very often, and every minute that we have in government is precious.
“It’s a privilege to be in government. I’m focused on the big job that I have as Home Secretary, and my advice to all colleagues everywhere would be that it’s a precious privilege, and we mustn’t waste a single minute of it.
“We have a big agenda. We have to crack on with delivering.”
Asked whether that message applied to Labour mayors, she said: “Wherever you sit in the Labour family, we all have a role to play in supporting the Labour Government deliver for the people of this country.”
Many within Westminster believe Sir Keir will face a sustained leadership challenge after May’s local election.
Labour’s popularity has plummeted since coming into office, with critics slamming their record on the economy, benefits, immigration and a series of damaging scandals.
On Saturday, a Labour MP who backs Mr Burnham said: « It’s happening. We are on the brink of securing a seat which is likely to come free shortly and where the polls say Andy would beat Reform. »
Health Secretary Wes Streeting was also last week accused of undermining the PM by using an interview with the New Statesman magazine to criticise the « technocratic approach » of the Government, which he likened to a « maintenance department ».
Meanwhile Ms Rayner is understood to be in regular contact with Mr Burnham’s camp, with colleagues predicting she is likely to form a joint ticket with him if he becomes an MP.
She is also backing a growing rebellion against Labour’s plans to reduce jury trials, with her allies saying that she fears Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK would ‘weaponise’ the reforms against the Government.
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