Starmer will not attempt to block Burnham from standing to be MP in Makerfield – UK politics live

After it emerged that Zack Polanski failed to vote in the local elections, Kevin Hollinrake MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “Even Zack Polanski can’t bring himself to vote for the Green Party.

“This is a bizarre failure and adds to a long list of half truths and blatant lies from Zack Polanski.

“The Green’s are not a serious party. Only the Conservatives have the team, plan and leader with a backbone to Get Britain Working Again.”

As resignation letters go, it is long – two pages and nearly 1,000 words – and relatively dense. And as ever with such missives, there is plenty of subtext behind the substance.

So what was Wes Streeting trying to say to Keir Starmer?

Analysis of last week’s local election results show that of the ten wards contested on Wigan Council that fall within the parliamentary constituency of Makerfield, either wholly or partially, Reform candidates won every single one of them.

Andy Burnham needs to make clear if he will be break away from “terrible orthodoxies” of the past or be “more of the same”, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said.

Responding to the announcement that the Greater Manchester mayor plans to stand in a by-election in a bid to return to Parliament and challenge Keir Starmer, the Green leader said: “Last week’s elections shows the country is crying out for a break from the failed status quo.

“Keir Starmer has been unable and unwilling to break with an economic model that has fuelled the affordability crisis, and this is why we have said he must go.

“Whatever happens in the coming by-election, Andy Burnham will need to make clear which version of him is going to show up.

“Is it the politician who has been part and parcel of the Labour establishment for decades, abstaining on legislation making brutal cuts to welfare, PFI and other Labour privatisations, or is it the one who has publicly supported proportional representation, been a popular mayor in Manchester and expressed support to make changes to the failed economic model?

“The country needs to know if Andy Burnham is serious about breaking out from the terrible orthodoxies from the past, or if he will just be more of the same.”

The Guardian understands that Keir Starmer will not attempt to block Andy Burnham from standing to be MP in Makerfield, Greater Manchester.

An ally of Starmer said: “Keir is focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families.”

Wes Streeting has quit his cabinet role as health secretary and called on Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister after days of speculation.

But Streeting did not launch his own challenge to trigger a leadership contest, so what could be next for Starmer’s government?

And has he left the door open for Andy Burnham? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot.

Zack Polanski did not register to vote in this month’s local elections because of the heightened intrusion and safety risk faced him, according to the Green party.

The Green leader is now in talks with the police and local authorities about registering to vote anonymously, the party told the Guardian.

Polanski has been under pressure since admitting he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat moored in east London. He has faced mounting questions over whether it was his primary residence.

The party said on Thursday that Polanski lived on the houseboat for just under four years, something which it said came with “unconventional practical considerations, including whether council tax is included in mooring fees.”

He was now seeking clarity on whether he owed anything was committed to paying that immediately.

His living arrangements had been “in flux” in recent months and he had recently moved into a rented home, said the statement, which sought to address claims that the party had misled The Times when it had told the newspaper that Polanski rented a room at another address where council tax was included in the rent and stayed on the boat only “occasionally”.

“We issued a rapid response to an unexpected query in the middle of a busy local election period in which we disclosed some facts before we had the full picture,” it said.

The statement went on: “Since becoming leader Zack has been subject to extreme and distressing press intrusion, including antisemitic cartoons being published about him, and journalists doorstepping family members.”

“Zack has also been the target of antisemitic and homophobic abuse, with two people arrested in relation to abuse directed towards him. One consequence of the heightened intrusion and safety risk he faces was that Zack did not register to vote in the most recent local elections.”

While MPs and councillors are protected under Operation Ford and Operation Bridger, UK policing initiatives designed to protect democratic processes by securing elected officials against intimidation and harassment, the party said that its leader does not benefit from this protection either as a London Assembly member nor as a national party leader.

This was subject to conversations with the Metropolitan police and is under review.

The favourability ratings of the current party leaders and senior Labour politicians.

As the drama unfolding at Westminster, at Holyrood 129 newly elected MSPs were sworn in to begin their duties, with a notable multilingual effort from the Lib Dem’s Yi-Pei Chou Turvey who took her oath in Mandarin, French and English.

Newbies – this term sees the largest number of never-before MSPs since the parliament started in 1999 – have been going through an intensive orientation with Holyrood staff ‘buddies’ since Monday and had a chance to relax in the garden lobby with family members today.

But many remarked on how insistent the parliamentary authorities had been that remote working and voting, a hangover from COVID times, should be limited with a focus on being in the building together.

While SNP members wore their traditional white rose button hole, a nod to nationalist Hugh McDiarmid’s famous poem, while Reform opted for heather and the Greens a bright pink gerbera.

While Keir Starmer’s authority as prime minister feels terminally undermined after calls from MPs and departing ministers to step down, he remains inside No 10 – for now. So how, and when, might he be removed? Here are some possible scenarios.