Labour MP in seat eyed by Burnham allies says she will not stand aside

Andy Burnham’s hopes of returning to Westminster were dealt a blow on Tuesday as the Merseyside MP whose seat had been named by key allies for a potential byelection said she would not stand down and backed Keir Starmer to stay in office.

Marie Rimmer, the MP for St Helens South and Whiston, said the mayor of Greater Manchester had not spoken to her “in years” – and that her priority was to avoid the chaos of a leadership contest.

Allies of Burnham, who hopes to seek to replace Starmer as prime minister, had said Rimmer’s seat was one possibly in contention for him to fight a byelection.

But Rimmer, who has been an MP since 2015, said: “I’m not planning to stand down for anybody. I was selected by my constituency party and it’s my constituency party who decides who stands. I’ve not spoken to Andy Burnham in years and neither has he spoken to me.”

Rimmer, 78, said she had experienced ill health but had not stopped working and had not held any conversations with the Labour party about her future.

She said she did not believe Starmer should stand down as prime minister. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. It’s chaos. We will end up looking like the Tories. There’s far too much going on in the world today. It’s just a nonsense to me, panic stations like this.”

She said the speculation she could give up her seat for Burnham had been “annoying because there’s a lot going on”. The last time she spoke to Burnham was in the last general election campaign, she said, adding that they “get on well”. However, allies of Burnham said the two had in fact spoken recently.

More than 70 MPs have called on Starmer to quit as prime minister after dire local and devolved election results in England, Scotland and Wales, many of them supporters of Burnham who have published letters calling for him to set out a timetable for an “orderly transition” that would let the mayor seek a seat.

Sources on Labour’s ruling national executive committee, which blocked the Greater Manchester mayor from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection in January, suggested they could take a different course next time.

“The officers’ group could move if there was clearly a question mark over political authority. But there would have to be a byelection called first before we know whether that is the case,” one said. Another said “things could move” should Starmer clearly not have support to continue as PM.

Supporters of Wes Streeting have also begun calling for the prime minister to go and oversee a “swift” transition that would favour the health secretary if Burnham cannot find a seat where he could stand in a byelection.