BIRMINGHAM — Al Carns was sitting in the Cherry Reds pub in Birmingham city centre, sunglasses perched on his head, a pint in his hand, when he told BirminghamLive he has not ruled out challenging Andy Burnham for the premiership. The former Royal Marine and Labour MP for Selly Oak is waiting. He is waiting to see the economic plan Burnham is expected to release Monday or Tuesday.
That wait is the whole story right now. Carns resigned from Keir Starmer’s government a fortnight ago.
Starmer resigned days later. Now Burnham, fresh off a by-election win in Makerfield, is the country’s newest MP and the presumed next Labour leader and Prime Minister. Other potential challengers have stepped aside.
Carns hasn’t. “I have not yet stood up to challenge him but nor have I ruled that out because we haven’t seen the (Andy Burnham economic) plan yet,” Carns said, according to the report.
“We expect to see that Monday or Tuesday. Then we will see.” That is a narrow window. A very narrow one.
The plan drops early next week. Carns will decide almost immediately after. He is the only Labour MP still willing to stand in Burnham’s path.
The red carpet is being laid to Number 10 for Burnham, the report noted. Carns might yet pull it away.
He is calling on Burnham to be “bold and courageous.” Those are Carns’ words, not the party’s, not the press’s. He is warning that if the plan falls short of that standard, he will move. What that move looks like — a formal leadership challenge, a public break, something else — Carns hasn’t said.
He hasn’t ruled anything out. The scene at Cherry Reds matters.
Carns was described as remarkably composed. Sunglasses. Pint.
Sun beating down on Birmingham city centre. This is not a man in crisis. This is a man who has been appearing on politics programmes and news websites for two weeks, positioning himself as the figure who might force a contest.
He looks comfortable doing it. Burnham has been the favourite since Starmer resigned.
The by-election win in Makerfield sealed that. But a coronation is not an election. If Carns decides the economic plan is not bold enough, not courageous enough, he can demand a vote.
Labour members would have a choice. The party would have a contest.
Carns is a former Royal Marine. He resigned from government. He watched Starmer resign.
He is now sitting in a pub in Birmingham, pint in hand, saying he will decide next week. That is the fact. That is the development the other reports have covered.
But the close read is this: Carns has set a test. He has named the terms.
“Bold and courageous.” And he has given himself until Monday or Tuesday to grade Burnham’s answer. If Carns challenges, it will be a real fight. If he doesn’t, Burnham walks in unopposed.
Either way, the decision comes next week. The red carpet stays rolled out until then.
