Kieron Clarke

Senior Political Producer for Good Morning Britain @GMB on @ITV | Tips and stories to [email protected]

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

🌹NEW: Pressure on the Prime Minister over blocking Andy Burnham's return to Westminster.

50 Labour MPs from the left and centre of the party have written to Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood, the Chair of Labour's NEC, in protest over the blocking of Burnham's candidacy for the Gordon and Denton by-election next month.

👀In the letter seen by Good Morning Britain, the MPs write that the decision has caused huge "anxiety and anger" with Labour MPs and party members, and that an 'unimaginable' loss of the stronghold constituency to Reform UK must now be taken "very seriously".

They argue there is "no legitimate reason" to block Burnham's "democratic right" and warn the decision risks looking like a "stitch-up", which they claim is a "gift" to Farage and Reform UK when Burnham is Labour's 'very best chance' of winning the seat.

The MPs are calling for an urgent full meeting of Labour's governing body, the NEC, to re-evaluate denying Burnham's permission to stand and to allow local members to choose their candidate.

#GMB

[Sun Politics @SunPolitics]

Foreign Office or Home Office?

Chinese or Indian takeaway?

BBC Breakfast or Good Morning Britain?

WATCH: Yvette Cooper quickfire questions!

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

EXCLUSIVE: Darren Jones
🔥 praised Mandelson the day he was fired
🔥was rude about Reeves
🔥took several swipes at Jonny Reynolds
🔥bemoaned the influence of the trade unions
BUT none of these messages made it into the public disclosure on Monday. Fancy that! https://t.co/BFIKlQR2Gt

[Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield]

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Farage of trying to create division in society.

“We can’t solve it by whipping people up, we can’t solve it by making them angry,” she said.

Badenoch told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Nigel Farage is taking sides. I’m not taking sides. I’m saying enough of this. We need to stop this racialising of our society.”

https://t.co/dBajE7LvaN

[Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield]

Andy Burnham’s campaign team desperately trying to distance themselves from Neal Lawson and Compass.

One senior source says: “This is nothing to do with Andy's campaign, it is a Compass project that does not represent Andy. He is fighting to change Labour so we can defeat Reform in this crucial by election.”

[Lara Spirit @lara_spirit]

EXC: Tony Blair privately advised Keir Starmer to fight on as prime minister in the weeks before publicly accusing him of having “no coherent plan” to run the country

The prime minister sought Blair’s counsel in a private call after Labour's local election losses earlier this month

Blair, who was not previously thought to be in close contact with Starmer, told him that he should seek to remain in No 10 for the foreseeable future

While Blair conveyed serious concerns about the direction of the current government, he advised that those seeking to replace him, chiefly Streeting and Andy Burnham, were yet to outline how they would lead differently

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Guilty as charged, but I’ll apologise to absolutely nobody

[Calgie @christiancalgie]

Sat in PCH for 20 minutes and saw 7 men wearing shorts

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Starmer must really want Burnham to lose in Makerfield.

Asked yesterday whether the PM would campaign in Wigan, one Burnham backing MP replied, “I hope not”…

Another simply laughed at the suggestion.
Whilst a third just rolled their eyes in horror.

Starmer says he 'wants to be a part of' Burnham's Makerfield campaign
https://t.co/Hp066oppC2

[Kiran Randhawa @KiranRandhawa]

Beyond honoured to have pursued, produced and delivered a story that could effect change going forward and help encourage those who have sat silently with the trauma to speak out.
Thank you Carrie for choosing GMB to deliver your powerful message.

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Ah, here, lads. I’m meant to be on holiday then. Give us a rest.

[ITVPolitics @ITVNewsPolitics]

Date of Makerfield by-election confirmed

https://t.co/i10LeJFB3j

[Good Morning Britain @GMB]

Tomorrow: Carrie Johnson speaks exclusively to @susannareid100 in her first broadcast interview on the 'black cab predator' John Worboys.

Watch Good Morning Britain, live from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.

[ITV News @itvnews]

Wes Streeting confirms he will stand in Labour leadership race
https://t.co/nUCez1lPxu

[ITVPolitics @ITVNewsPolitics]

Andy Burnham on Number 10: I will take my fight 'as high as I can go'

Burnham sat down for an exclusive interview with @DanielHewittITV
https://t.co/OkvzKVorMR

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Wow. That is tight.
Turnout will be key too.

[Election Maps UK @ElectionMapsUK]

Makerfield By-Election Forecast:

With Burnham:
LAB: 45%
RFM: 42%

Without Burnham:
RFM: 53%
LAB: 27%

Via @Survation.
Methodology Below.

[Tides of History @labour_history]

25 years ago today, John Prescott went to Rhyl and was met by protesters - as the general election got underway…

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Thank you Josh.

Although I will add there’s a certain poetry in the fact one of the central components of the destructive Labour Together cabal may just have created our last, best chance to undo the disaster they helped visit upon this party & govt.

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Having been denied by the NEC in January to stand as a candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, which the Greens won.
Andy Burnham says he will seek approval to run in Josh Simons' Makerfield seat, an area he says he grew up in and has lived in for 25 years.

Surely Starmer has no authority left to block Burnham from running this time?
But what a massive risk for Andy Burnham and for Labour given the huge threat from Farage and Reform.

[Andy Burnham @AndyBurnhamGM]

I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election.

I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics.

Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic.

Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures.

However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people.

Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place.

I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that.

Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again.

ENDS

[Andy Burnham @AndyBurnhamGM]

I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election.

I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics.

Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic.

Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures.

However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people.

Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place.

I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that.

Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again.

ENDS

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Josh Simons MP for Makerfield says he is 'standing aside' for Andy Burnham.

That will be a massive challenge. Reform will throw the kitchen sink at that seat.
Simons' majority just over 5,000 and Reform wiped the floor with Labour at last week's local elections.

[Josh Simons @joshsimonsmp]

For decades, Westminster has overseen the managed decline of towns like mine. We have talked big, then acted small, stuck in a politics of incrementalism that cannot meet the moment. We have lost the trust of those our party was built to serve.

It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference. That must start with a change in leadership.

Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for.

This has not been an easy decision. This is my family’s home, where only a few weeks ago, doctors and nurses at Wigan Infirmary saved our newborn son’s life.

But we all must make choices and in recent days I found myself with a difficult one: defend the status quo or step forward and act. I have made my choice.

I am in politics because politics is how you change lives for the better. My party has one last chance to do that: deliver for the people and places I represent, drive economic growth, secure our borders, reform our state and politics, and change a status quo that is not working.

That is the fight. I believe Andy is the one to lead it.

[Harry Horton @harry_horton]

Andy Burnham will set out plans to return to Westminster later today. "A path forward will become clear," says an ally of the Greater Manchester Mayor.

His team are confident the NEC will not block him from standing in a by-election this time.

[Kieron Clarke @kieronishere]

Game on