Andy Burnham’s thaw in relations with Downing Street after he joins cabinet minister days after ‘united front’ with PM

Andy Burnham has played down any aspirations to return to Parliament, saying he’s focused on ‘doing [his] job as mayor’.

Last week (April 16), the Greater Manchester mayor visited a veterans’ hub in Wigan, alongside Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey.

On Monday, Mr Burnham, spent time alongside PM Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner as they put on a united front during a visit to a school in Greater Manchester.

The mayor applied to become Labour’s candidate in the Gorton & Denton by-election in late January.

His attempt was halted by the party’s ruling national executive committee, as Keir Starmer voted against Mr Burnham after months of speculation the mayor was preparing a leadership challenge to the Prime Minister.

During today’s Wigan visit, Mr Burnham was asked if joining another cabinet minister meant ‘bridges are being built between you and number 10?’. He said: “I will always be a Labour team player.

“I was out campaigning during the Gorton and Denton by-election even if that didn’t go the way I was hoping.

“I’m proud the defence secretary is here in Wigan this morning to see this incredible armed forces community hub that’s been created.”

Asked if he was going to take another shot at entering the House of Commons he replied: “I don’t like the question, it detracts from what we’re doing here today. I don’t want to endlessly speculate about ‘what if’. I’m doing my job as mayor.

“People saw in February that I put myself forward and it didn’t work but I went straight back to doing my job here because I love doing it.

“It’s been a privilege to serve people of Greater Manchester and it will always continue to be.”

Rumours Mr Burnham will move for a return to Parliament surfaced again last month, when The Telegraph reported he ‘tried to persuade a Labour MP to stand down for him’, namely St Helens South and Whiston’s Marie Rimmer.

The mayor denied those reports.

Speaking in March about his earlier parliamentary bid he told BBC Radio Manchester ‘I made my move and I got blocked. I accept that’.

He added: “I am committed to what I am doing. I have a full focus on this job.”