By Ramazani Mwamba

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Andy Burnham would gain more votes than Keir Starmer if a leadership contest was held today, a new poll has revealed. The survey, which saw 704 Labour members asked for their opinion, showed 62% would back Burnham with 29% saying they’d vote for Starmer. A further 9% said they don’t know or would not vote when responding to the Sky News poll. It also showed that a third of Labour members no longer think Keir Starmer is a good prime minister and rather he would not be in charge of the Labour Party by the next general election. Some 33% say he is doing a bad job, compared with 63% who think he is doing a good job. 37% say Sir Keir should not take the party into the next election, while 53% say he should and 10% don’t know. People are more likely to say that Labour is doing a good job than Sir Keir. Mr Burnham is the favourite to succeed him by a long distance – the top pick of 54% of members. Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Next is Angela Rayner (10%), then Health Secretary Wes Streeting on 7%. Ed Miliband and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper are on 6%, and new home secretary Shabana Mahmood is on 2%. The poll also examined attitudes to the deputy leadership contest – it found 35% would back Lucy Powell and 28% would back Bridget Phillipson, while 30% do not know and 5% will not vote. Excluding ‘don’t know’, this suggests Ms Powell is ahead of Ms Phillipson with 56% to 44% – a closer margin than some other pollsters. The poll makes tough reading for Angela Rayner – 60% said she was right to resign, against 34% who said it was the wrong decision. The figures come after a period of days which have seen Burnham emerge as a potential replacement for Starmer. Burnham has recently admitted that he would challenge the prime minister for the leadership role should the opportunity arise. However, his ambitious declaration may not have gone well with everyone in the party. According to the Labourlist , exclusive polling conducted by Survation showed that his approval ratings saw a dip, despite support remaining high. Burnham’s favourability rating dropped by nine points to 69%, down from 78% last month, with the number of members having a very unfavourable opinion of the mayor jumping from three percent to eight percent. Burnham’s favourability is strongest in South West England at 85%, but ‘weakest’ in London at 54%. The Labour party is currently holding its annual four day conference in Liverpool where Burnham has already made two public appearances. During a live recording of the Guardian newspaper’s politics podcast, Mr Burnham neither confirmed nor denied if he has had a conversation with an existing north west MP to take over their seat. Instead he responded that he could not launch a leadership campaign without a seat: “There is no ability for me to launch a campaign. “I’m not going to say every conversation I have with every MP. I have many conversations with MPs. “I can’t launch a leadership campaign, I’m not in Parliament. That’s the bottom line.” He also went on to cool leadership talks, professing his commitment to the region as its mayor. “I am committed to my role of Greater Manchester mayor,” he also said. “I cannot predict the future, but I am committed to the role. “I have not missed Westminster that much. I love what I do in Greater Manchester.”