Would you like to see Andy Burnham as Labour leader? Take our poll and have your say

Andy Burnham has revealed MPs have urged him to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership and we want to know if YOU would like to see him in the top job?

The Greater Manchester Mayor refused to rule out a return to Westminster in the future and with the Labour Conference about to get underway this weekend, Mr Burnham revealed MPs have encouraged him to challenge the Prime Minister. As speculation mounts that the 'King of the North' could be considering another bid to be Labour leader, Mr Burnham claimed that "wholesale change" is needed to turn things around. If you can't see the poll below, click here.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Burnham was asked whether he had been encouraged to run for Labour leader, to which he replied: "People have contacted me throughout the summer – yeah.

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“I’m not going to say to you that that hasn’t happened, but as I say, it’s more a decision for those people than it is for me.” The former Health Secretary insisted he was not plotting an immediate return to the Commons.

Shortly before his comments to The Telegraph, Mr Burnham spoke to the New Statesman about the upcoming Labour Conference in Liverpool. He said: "To me, the issue of the conference is not who is the deputy leader of the party, who is the leader of the Labour Party. The issue for the conference is: where is our plan to turn the country around?”

“I’m going to put the question back to people at Labour conference: are we up for that wholesale change? Because I think that’s what the country needs.”

He added: "If you’re asking me, am I attracted to going back into my old world and the old way of doing things in Westminster with minimal change, well no, I wouldn’t find that attractive.

"[But] am I ready to work with anybody who wants to sort of put in place a plan to turn the country around? I’m happy to play any role. I am ready to play any role in that. Yes. Because the threat we’re facing is increasingly an existential one.”

Mr Burnham has thrown his weight behind Lucy Powell, the former leader of the House of Commons, to succeed Angela Rayner as deputy leader. He believes the Manchester Central MP's victory would be key to weakening Downing Street's grip on the party, according to The New Statesman.

Responding to the Greater Manchester Mayor's comments, Housing Secretary Steve Reed - a key ally of the PM - dismissed talk of a leadership challenge as "tittle-tattle". The Labour frontbencher told Times Radio: "I've seen this movie before. When we were in opposition, we used to hear similar things about Keir Starmer. That was before he picked this party up off the floor and led us into a record-breaking general election victory."

What do you think? Would you like to see Andy Burnham as Labour leader? Take our poll andhave your say in the comments below.