Andy Burnham has fuelled Labour leadership rumours by refusing to commit to serving a full term as Greater Manchester Mayor.

The former minister failed to quash speculation about his plans in an interview as Keir Starmer struggles to stabilise the government.

Mr Burnham stressed his ‘full intention’ was to remain in post until elections in May 2028. But he admitted he ‘didn’t know’ if he would try to become an MP again if there is a by-election in a Manchester seat.

The mayor also suggested a return would need to be a response to demands for a new leader, telling BBC local radio it would not be him ‘putting himself right out there again’. He ran unsuccessfully against Jeremy Corbyn in 2015.

The latest sign of manoeuvres against Sir Keir came as a poll put Labour on its lowest ever support of just 16 per cent. The Find Out Now research found Reform was way ahead on 34 per cent backing – although the firm has consistently detected bigger advantages for Nigel Farage’s party than other pollsters.

Andy Burnham failed to quash speculation about his plans in an interview as Keir Starmer struggles to stabilise the government

Mr Burnham has been the subject of frenzied interest amid the extraordinary meltdown at the heart of Downing Street.

Angela Rayner’s resignation a fortnight ago was followed by a panicky reshuffle ‘reset’, which was immediately derailed by the furore over Lord Mandelson. 

MPs have been openly warning that Sir Keir could be ‘gone’ by May if local elections are as bad as feared. 

There have been claims that allies of Ms Rayner are mooting a comeback on a ‘joint ticket’ with Mr Burnham.  

Asked on BBC Radio Manchester why he was tied up in the speculation, Mr Burnham said: ‘Westminster’s in flux isn’t it… whenever Westminster’s in flux I get dragged in.’  

Mr Burnham stressed he had never ruled out going back to the Commons. ‘I do watch what’s going on down there so I wouldn’t say not,’ he said.

But he added: ‘This is the thing I want to get over to people – it wouldn’t be me sort of saying right I’m going to put myself right out there again. It would have to sort of come in a different direction of people…’

Pressed if would fight a by-election in Greater Manchester if one came up, Mr Burnham said: ‘I honestly don’t know, it’s a hypothetical question.’

While stressing his intention of seeing out his full term as mayor, Mr Burnham said: ‘If events change, I’m not necessarily going to be stuck religiously in one way of thinking.’ 

MPs have been openly warning that Sir Keir (pictured) could be ‘gone’ by May if local elections are as bad as feared

Mr Burnham’s term as Greater Manchester mayor will last until 2028 and, if he wants to succeed Sir Keir as Labour leader, he would first need to become an MP.

But the deputy leader contest between Downing Street’s de facto candidate Bridget Phillipson and sacked Cabinet minister Lucy Powell is being seen as a ‘proxy war’. 

Mr Burnham has praised Ms Powell, who earlier this week launched a brutal attack on Sir Keir’s ‘mistakes’ and ‘unforced errors’.

Ms Powell told the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast: ‘Some of the mistakes that we’ve made, or some of the unforced errors, have given a sense that we’re not on the side of ordinary people.’

She was sacked in Sir Keir’s reshuffle this month, and said it may have been due to the ‘feedback’ she had given the Cabinet from Labour MPs on issues including welfare reform.

She said: ‘I thought I was doing the job I was supposed to be doing, but maybe that wasn’t feedback people wanted to hear.’

Freed from Cabinet collective responsibility, the ex-Commons Leader urged the Government to be ‘clearer’ about wanting to scrap the two-child benefit cap – a significant issue for many Labour backbenchers.

One Labour veteran told the Daily Mail that an alliance between Mr Burnham and Ms Rayner was ‘extremely unlikely’ to succeed.

‘She’s going to lose her seat apart form anything else,’ they said of the Ashton-under-Lyne MP. She won her seat with a 7,000-vote majority over Reform UK last year, but the polls have changed dramatically since then.

‘I don’t think there is anything like as much love for Burnham in the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) as he thinks.’

Angela Rayner pictured out campaigning with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in March last year

Earlier this week Mr Burnham received support from a serving Cabinet minister to make a return to Westminster.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she ‘loves’ the Greater Manchester mayor and would support him ‘whatever he decides to do’.

Ms Nandy made the comments as she said she was supporting Lucy Powell, an ally of Mr Burnham, in the contest to replace Ms Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader.

She told LBC: ‘I love Andy, and whatever he decides to do, I’ll support him.

‘He’s been a fantastic champion for the North, and whether he wants to do that as the mayor of Greater Manchester or as an MP, I think he’s got an enormous contribution to make.’