Labour MPs Brief Against Greater Manchester Mayor Ahead of Makerfield By-Election

A meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday evening addressed briefings by MPs against the prime minister and various leadership candidates. Foreign secretary and chief whip gave colleagues a dressing down for the briefings, which they presented as an appeal for unity. One MP described the effort as the 21st century equivalent of King Cnut shouting at the sea to stop the tide coming in.

The Greater Manchester mayor’s camp was offered an opportunity to deny the suggestions but has not yet responded. The briefings form part of a series of campaigns aimed at stopping the Greater Manchester mayor from becoming MP for Makerfield and then potentially prime minister. Rivals and Downing Street are each playing the game in their own ways.

A former health secretary used a weekend speech to call for the UK to rejoin the EU. The speech appeared intended to place the Greater Manchester mayor in an awkward spot ahead of the by-election in a heavily pro-Leave seat. The Greater Manchester mayor said last year he wanted to rejoin but now says he does not want to talk about it in the by-election.

An ally of the prime minister stated that the coalition is unsustainable. One supporter of a leadership candidate noted that the Greater Manchester mayor is not going to stand up to six weeks of intense scrutiny and predicted outrage or lashing out at some point.