Labour MPs ‘Will Defect to Greens’ If Andy Burnham Loses Leadership Bid

Labour MPs are preparing to defect to the Greens unless Andy Burnham wins a byelection that will enable him to challenge Keir Starmer for the party leadership, according to a report from the Telegraph.

Several backbenchers have been in talks with Green leader Zack Polanski in recent months, but are now reportedly waiting for the outcome of the vote on 18 June in Makerfield, where Burnham is polling first and ahead of Reform UK’s candidate by three points.

If Burnham loses, MPs including Clive Lewis and Richard Burgon are prepared to defect, the Telegraph reported, citing unnamed sources.

Burnham, currently the mayor of Greater Manchester, is seen by some Labour progressives as a figure who can halt or slow the party’s lurch to the right.

​But critics say he is unlikely to provide a meaningful alternative, pointing to the fact that he voted for the Iraq war in 2003 and became a member of Labour Friends of Israel in 2015, when he also described the movement to boycott Israel as “spiteful”.

​During his unsuccessful attempt to win the Labour leadership the same year, he said Israel is the first country he would visit if he won.

Last week, the Guardian reported that Burnham would stand behind home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s draconian immigration reforms if he won the leadership, according to his allies.