Angela Rayner led calls for the return of Andy Burnham yesterday, amid speculation she has agreed to run for the leadership with him on a 'dream ticket'.

The former deputy prime minister said preventing the Manchester mayor's return to Parliament was a 'mistake that the leadership of our party should put right'.

Her intervention came after Keir Starmer refused to be drawn on whether Mr Burnham could stand for Parliament.

The Prime Minister was facing the prospect of a leadership challenge yesterday following his make-or-break speech.

Both Mr Burnham and Ms Rayner have long been touted as potential challengers, as well as Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

In a speech to the Communication Workers Union in Bournemouth yesterday, Ms Rayner called for Mr Burnham to be allowed to stand for Parliament.

'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,' she said.

'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.'

Ms Rayner said it had been a 'bruising' few days for the party, holding her elbows up to prove it after taking part in a Tough Mudder event at the weekend, but said John Prescott, another former deputy prime minister, who died in 2024, would have 'relished this fight' to make the country better.

She added: 'The late John Prescott used to tell me, "You've got a voice kid, use it." He had the courage to set out his stall and persuaded people to follow it.

'He'd be fighting back for what he believed in, a bold vision for a better country – and we have to do exactly that.'

Ms Rayner went on to say it was clear that what Labour was doing 'isn't working' and it would have to change.

She said: 'People have turned to populists and nationalists, because we have not done enough to fix it. Living standards are barely higher than they were a decade-and-a-half ago.

'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.

'And once again, working-class people are paying the price for the decisions that they didn't make. 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.' Following his speech yesterday, the Prime Minister was asked whether he would support Mr Burnham's return to Westminster.

He said he was doing a 'great job' as Manchester mayor and that it was a matter for Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) to decide.

'Obviously, any future decision is for the NEC,' Sir Keir said. 'Andy's doing a great job as mayor in Manchester.'

Mr Burnham was blocked from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year by the NEC, which is dominated by the PM's allies.

The formerly safe Labour seat was won by the Greens, triggering fury among Labour MPs – and meant Mr Burnham could not challenge the PM.

There are reports that a Labour MP in the Manchester area is planning to stand down and allow the mayor to fight their seat. The NEC would then vote whether to allow Mr Burnham to fight the seat. If they did allow him to, it would mean a battle for the mayoralty that Reform UK could well win.

Ms Rayner's intervention on Mr Burnham's behalf prompted fresh speculation that the pair have done a deal. Long thought to be interested in the top job herself, Ms Rayner has still not resolved issues over her tax affairs.

She remains under investigation by the HMRC over her failure to pay £40,000 she owed in stamp duty.

The Manchester mayor was seen at her home during the height of the Lord Mandelson scandal, when Sir Keir's position looked weakest. And now she is said to be preparing to support Mr Burnham as leader in exchange for a prominent role, such as her former position as deputy prime minister. 

On Saturday, she posted a 1,000-word manifesto-style tweet describing the Mandelson scandal as a 'toxic culture of cronyism'.

Yesterday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy echoed Ms Rayner as she agreed that it was a 'mistake' to block Mr Burnham from standing. 'I think you need your strongest team on the pitch and he [Mr Burnham] is undeniably one of those politicians who goes out and fights for people, and people see it and appreciate it,' she told Sky News.

Ms Nandy explained: 'This is not about trying to swap out the Prime Minister or change the Prime Minister, but I do think we need to stick together as a team, come together as a team, field our strongest players and go out and make that change that people were promised and that we owe it to them to deliver.'

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan also backed Mr Burnham's return to Parliament, saying it should happen 'sooner rather than later'. However, he stressed that he was not calling for a change in leadership, only a 'change in the pace of delivery'.

But Business Secretary Peter Kyle also told Sky: 'Andy Burnham left Westminster to go to Manchester, and he made a series of promises. I think promises matter.'

The Cabinet minister later added on LBC: '[Burnham] chose to leave Parliament in 2016 when things were really tough here...'

'My personal view is this is not the moment to have another by-election and a mayoral election, but these are decisions for the NEC,' he insisted. 'Andy chose to leave Parliament – he should stick to the promises he already made.'