Starmer surge leaves Burnham eclipsed

Poor Andy Burnham. This time last year the Mayor of Manchester was riding high in the Labour leadership stakes, having cruised to re-election with a whopping 67 per cent of the vote, as Sir Keir Starmer struggled to cut through in Westminster. Now the fortunes are reversed: Starmer is 20 points ahead in the polls, while Burnham – the onetime ‘king of the north’ – would be forgiven for looking enviously on at his rival’s kingdom down south. Having clashed with Sir Keir in recent months on picketing and voting reform, there are perhaps some indicators that Burnham is feeling slightly bruised from being out of the action in SW1.

The ever-online Andy has taken to patrolling social media to respond to his critics – including last night when he picked a bizarre fight