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Keir Starmer is rushing through a crucial Commons by-election after dismissing Labour fury at blocking Andy Burnham.
The 'writ' for the Gorton and Denton contest has been moved, with the date for the vote expected to be February 26.
The breakneck timetable emerged after the PM insisted that allowing Mr Burnham to quit as Greater Manchester mayor to be the candidate would 'divert resources' from other elections.
Denying he was 'running scared', he said Mr Burnham was 'doing a great job' in his current role.
There is speculation that local councillor Julie Reid could be installed as the candidate instead, with the shortlist still being drawn up.
She previously came under fire for raising concerns that children were being fed 'far-right propaganda' by parents at home during the Covid lockdown rather than hearing from 'Marxist' teachers.
Gorton and Denton is shaping up to be a bitter struggle despite Labour having romped to victory with a 13,000 majority in 2024. Nigel Farage has vowed to 'throw everything' at the seat, while the Greens also fancy their chances.
Rumours are circulating that deputy leader Mothin Ali could stand for Zack Polanski's left-wingers. Mr Ali has been posting insisting that Muslim voters will be critical in the contest.
Keir Starmer today dismissed Labour fury at blocking Andy Burnham from returning as an MP
Sir Keir was visiting a pharmacy in London this morning with Wes Streeting - who is also thought to be on manoeuvres
Mr Burnham voiced frustration after the PM led a dramatic move by the ruling national executive committee to prevent him standing
Andy Burnham stoked the standoff with Sir Keir today warning that Labourwill lose the by-election he was blocked from fighting
Sir Keir is facing a growing revolt on his own benches over preventing the first step towards a leadership challenge by Mr Burnham.
The NEC declared yesterday that creating a vacancy for the Manchester mayoralty would be an unacceptable risk and cost large sums of money.
Critics insist the premier has only delayed his demise, with backbenchers openly calling for him to consider his position and Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner 'on manoeuvres'.
Quizzed by reporters after an event at an art gallery in Manchester this morning, Mr Burnham: 'I have said everything that I needed to say and I'm getting on with my job now.'
Sir Keir said: 'We have really important elections already across England for local councils, very important elections in Wales for the Government there and very important elections in Scotland for the Scottish Government that will affect millions of people. And we're out campaigning on the cost of living and they're very important elections.
'We need all of our focus on those elections.
'Andy Burnham's doing a great job as the mayor of Manchester, but having an election for the mayor of Manchester when it's not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have, that we must fight and win.
'And resources, whether that's money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don't have to have. And that was the basis of the NEC decision.'
In a message to his MPs, he said: 'The single most important thing for people across the country is the cost of living and that's why we're bearing down on it in everything we're doing, pulling every lever.
'We must never lose sight of that whatever is happening internationally – and there's a lot – whatever is happening across the country on other issues – and there's a lot – the single thing that matters most is the cost of living.
'All of our members, all of our supporters, all of our MPs, know that.
'The second thing I'd say is there is a fight. Yes, there is a fight, but that fight is with Reform and we all need to line up together to be in that fight, all playing our part.
'I think that everybody in the Labour Party, everybody who's a Labour MP, wants to be in that fight, wants to fight alongside all their colleagues in a fight that matters hugely to the future of our country.'
Sir Keir denied that there was any personal animosity with Mr Burnham.
'Andy Burnham is doing a really great job … when I came into politics in 2015 the first thing I did was support Andy Burnham's leadership campaign, the first team I worked in was for Andy Burnham and in the job he's doing now, he and I work closely together,' he said.
'Last year, in sad circumstances, we had to respond together to the attack in a synagogue in Manchester, standing side by side, reassuring the community.
'This year with the Northern Powerhouse Rail, we're working together to deliver something that matters to Andy Burnham, to the region, to millions of people.
'So, there's no question of me and Andy not working very well together. He's doing an excellent job.
'The question the NEC had to address was whether we should take the focus away, which it would have done, from the elections in Wales, in Scotland and the elections we must have, by introducing an election which we don't have to have.
'And two years ago, the Labour Party changed the rules to say that presumption is really against doing that, because we need to fight where we must fight.'
Mr Burnham formally applied to put his name forward for the Gorton and Denton by-election on Saturday, despite apparently being told privately that the NEC would not allow it.
The contest has been triggered by the resignation of ex-MP Andrew Gwynne, who has been allowed to retire on medical grounds.
A meeting of the NEC's most senior officers yesterday blocked Mr Burnham from going on the list. Sir Keir himself was among eight who voted against giving Mr Burnham permission, while deputy leader Lucy Powell was the sole member in favour.
Although many MPs attacked Sir Keir's handling, others questions Mr Burnham's 'amazingly cack-handed' tactics in formally applying to stand for Parliament when he knew he would be blocked. They pointed out that even if Mr Burnham succeeded in creating a vacancy in No10 he would not be able to challenge for it.
Ms Reid - a former teacher who is councillor for the Gorton and Abbey Hey ward and an early years officer - is reported to have put her name forward to be the candidate.
During lockdown in 2020, she took part in an online event with a left-wing activist group.
'I'm also very worried about children who are stuck in households where they're hearing far-right propaganda being relayed at them daily,' she said during the session, according to The Sun.
'They're not hearing the teacher's voices that they would normally hear in the classroom.
'Most of us teachers, are you know as Michael Gove would call us, youknow, lefty Marxists.
'No, we're not all lefty Marxists, but we clearly are preaching, you know in the classroom daily, not Michael Gove's British values, depends what you mean by British values, doesn't it?'
Touring broadcast studios for the government this morning, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: 'The judgment was more about focus than factionalism.'
He added: 'Whatever choice the national executive committee made yesterday, it was likely that there would be criticism and there would be commentary in the papers today. There were, if you like, ditches on both sides of the road.'
If the NEC had allowed Mr Burnham to stand, there would have been 'the equivalent of 20 by-elections diverting time, energy and money to a Manchester mayoral contest' which Labour might lose.
'We would certainly have fought that contest hard, but there would have been some degree of risk – Reform are outspending us about 10-to-one at the moment and in the biggest and most unnecessary electoral contest in England, you can never take anything for granted.
'That doesn't strike me as a risk-free choice.'
Tom Baldwin, a close ally of Sir Keir who wrote his biography, posted on X last night: 'I've always liked @AndyBurnhamGM but the prospect of him returning to Westminster has already added to inward-looking psychodrama that does no one any good.
'And an unnecessary by-election for Mayor of Manchester might well have resulted in long term damage to his reputation too.'
There is speculation that local councillor Julie Reid could be installed as the Labour candidate, with the shortlist still being drawn up
The Denton contest has been triggered by the resignation of ex-MP Andrew Gwynne, who has been allowed to retire on medical grounds
Sir Keir watched his Arsenal team lose to Manchester United in London yesterday afternoon
But Mr Burnham shot back: 'I'm not sure losing a by-election does us any good either, Tom.'
Left-wing MPs have been leading the condemnation of the NEC move, although dissent goes beyond the 'usual suspects'.
Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson told Times Radio: 'This just plays into the level of factionalism that has been inherent in this party for too long and it has to stop.
'And Keir Starmer now needs to consider his own position as leader of this party.'
Mr Burnham slated the 'way the Labour Party is being run' yesterday after revealing that the media was told about the decision before he was.
Posting on X, Mr Burnham said: 'I am disappointed by the NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.'
He added: 'The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days.
'You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something, but sadly not.'
Amid the furore, Sir Keir was spotted in the stands at Emirates Stadium watching his football team Arsenal lose 3-2 at home to Manchester United.
Labour faces difficult local elections in May in which the party is expected to perform disastrously in Wales and Scotland and lose seats to Reform UK.
Karl Turner, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, said the decision to sabotage Mr Burnham's bid 'provides more chance of a challenge' if the party loses the by-election.
Labour MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he had sent a message to the PM to tell him that 'if he thinks this strengthens his position, I think it will used to hasten his demise if he's not careful'.
And former Labour MP Diane Abbott, now an independent, added: 'If the results in May are as bad as we all think they're going to be, a challenger will emerge from somewhere.'
How Starmer could still be ousted by Labour as Streeting and Rayner prepare to pounce after Burnham meltdown
In 1066, the English King Harold faced two threats to his power.
He saw off a challenger in the north, defeating an Viking army at Stamford Bridge. But then he was then beaten by a challenger from the south, falling at Hastings and allowing William the Conqueror to take the throne and alter the course of British history.
Fast forward 960 years and Sir Keir Starmer has seen off a challenger from the North after blocking Andy Burnham from making a return to Westminster that was widely seen as a precursor to a leadership bid.
But he may still have to muster his weary troops to see off a challenger from the south in the shape of Wes Streeting.
The Health Secretary and Ilford North MP has made no secret of his desire to one day be Prime Minister and is thought to just be waiting for his moment to strike.
In many ways stopping Burnham, who garnered many headlines for his noisy attempt to return to the Commons, was always going to be the easier victory for the Prime Minister as he tries to keep hold of power.
Having quit parliament in a huff in 2017 after being beaten to the Labour leadership by Ed Miliband and then, more embarrassingly, by Jeremy Corbyn, Burnham needed a new seat to enact his march on No10.
Stopping him getting that seat was logistically simple - if politically hard - at the weekend, as the Starmerite-dominated officer committee of Labour's NEC ruled he could not try to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Streeting has, in contrast, been quiet, more measured in his criticism and willing to bide his time. He is already an MP - though with one of the smallest majorities in the Commons - so blocking him is a harder task.
He also has more support within the Parliamentary Labour Party. Allies suggest he would have the backing of around 200 MPs if he did run to replace Sir Keir, double that of Burnham.
In many ways stopping Burnham, who garnered many headlines for his noisy attempt to return to the Commons, was always going to be the easier victory for the Prime Minister as he tries to keep hold of power.
Et tu, Angela? The former ex-deputy prime minister has kept a very low profile since she was forced to quit last year amid a row over the tax she paid when buying a holiday home.
The crunch point is May 7. That is the day a raft of elections take place across the UK, including English councils, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. It could also be the day the Gorton by-election takes place.
A worst-case scenario for Sir Keir is Labour finishing third in Scotland behind the SNP and Reform, losing control of the Senedd for the first time ever, losing Gorton to Reform or the Greens, and losing a slew of council seats.
That would be the impetus for a full challenge from Streeting and, perhaps from Angela Rayner.
The former ex-deputy prime minister has kept a very low profile since she was forced to quit last year amid a row over the tax she paid when buying a holiday home.
The so-called Red Queen was expected to regain her post as well as a plum Cabinet job as rewards for backing Mr Burnham.
Sources said Ms Rayner had put aside her own ambitions to replace Sir Keir Starmer in favour of the Manchester mayor.
But a much-hyped public endorsement at the weekend did not emerge - leading to speculation that her ambitions remained focused on winning power herself.
With Burnham out of the way she is the natural challenger to West Streeting that MPs from the north and the soft left wing of the party could get behind.
Under the Labour Party's rulebook, if there is no current vacancy for party leader, nominations may be sought by potential challengers.
Those seeking to replace Sir Keir must be nominated by 20 per cent of Labour MPs, after the threshold was raised from 10 per cent in 2021.
The party currently has 404 MPs in the House of Commons, so this means challengers will need the support of 81 MPs to force a leadership election.
Sir Keir himself will not be required to seek nominations to enter a leadership election, should he be challenged and he wishes to fight on.
As the sitting party leader, his name will automatically go on the ballot paper.
Those seeking to challenge Sir Keir will also need the support of 5 per cent of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) or the backing of three affiliates, two of which have to be trade unions.
If they have the required support, challengers will then need to write to Labour's general secretary Hollie Ridley to accept their nomination.
An independent scrutineer will then approve a timetable for a leadership ballot.