By Chris McCall

Copyright dailyrecord

Anas Sarwar has said Andy Burnham “should continue to serve the great people of Manchester”. It comes as speculation mounts that the Mayor of Greater Manchester could launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer. Burnham has given several interviews in the last 24 hours ahead of the UK Labour conference in Liverpool getting underway this weekend. When asked if MPs had urged him to run for the top job, the mayor said: “People have contacted me throughout the summer – yeah.” But any potential leadership bid is hampered by the fact Burnham is not an MP and would have to win a by-election to re-enter the House of Commons. Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, played down the prospect of a possible battle for the party’s top job when speaking to reporters in the Scottish Parliament today. Asked if he had confidence in the Prime Minister, Sarwar said: “He’s got a very difficult job and we’ve made significant progress in the last year. But if I had one criticism of a UK Labour Government, is that there have been huge successes, but very few people have been told about them. “I’ll give you a practical example of that. I bet the average person across the country doesn’t know mortgages have come down by over £1,500, and the average wage is up by £1,800. To a couple with a mortgage, that’s a financial benefit of almost £5,000 as a result of the economic stability provided by a UK Labour Government. “We’ve got to get better at telling that story.” On the subject of leadership challenge speculation, Sarwar continued: “Even talking in those terms is ridiculous. This is a prime minister who won an historic victory, removed the Tories from office, won a huge landslide, and now has to get on with the job. “There are lots of great things the Labour Government has done, but we’ve got to be clearer about.” Asked if Burnham should ‘wind his neck in’, Sarwar responded: “I think Andy Burnham should continue to serve the great people of Manchester and be that great Labour voice that he is.” Burnham, who won a third term as Manchester mayor last May, said earlier the UK Government needed a “proper plan for the country”, including one to beat Reform UK, and offered “to support the prime minister” in developing fresh policies. Speaking on local BBC radio, he was asked whether a bid for the leadership would be the biggest gamble of his political career. Burnham responded: “Whenever Westminster has gone into a moment I’ve somehow been drawn into it.” He added: “People have been getting in touch with me. And obviously I’ve said to them, it’s not a matter for me. “This is ultimately a matter for the party in Westminster to decide. I’m here to support the party in whatever way I can.” To sign up to the Daily R ecord Politics newsletter, click here