Burnham eyes Labour crown as Starmer clings on

In a dramatic week at Westminster, Wes Streeting has quit as health secretary and ex-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has said her wrangling with HMRC is finally over – but neither has launched a leadership challenge. Instead, all eyes are now on Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham as he attempts to chart a path back to the Commons, leaving Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership under severe pressure. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by political correspondent Anna Gross, deputy opinion editor Miranda Green and deputy political editor Jim Pickard to discuss the latest developments. The team also examines Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s shifting story about his £5mn personal gift from a Thailand-based crypto investor in 2024, and looks ahead to consider what a Reform government would do.  Follow: Lucy @LOS_Fisher or @lucyfisher.ft.com; Anna @annasophiagross; Miranda @greenmiranda & @greenmirandahere.bsky.social and Jim @pickardJE Want more?  Burnham’s return to Westminster will not be so easy Labour set to approve Andy Burnham’s by-election runStarmer crisis as it happened: premier appoints new health secretary Angela Rayner says she has been cleared over tax affairsWes Streeting: the confident performer with a mixed record of reform To beat the populist right, Labour must be an insurgent government Zack Polanski admits ‘mistake’ over houseboat council taxFT Series: Reform UK up close  Sign up here for Stephen Bush’s morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek views. Get 30 days free.Political Fix was presented by Lucy Fisher and produced by Nisha Patel. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound engineering by Breen Turner. The broadcast engineers are Andrew Georgiades and Bianca Wakeman. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio.