Andy Burnham has overtaken both Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage in the race for the public's approval as the country's preferred prime minister, a new poll has found.
The Greater Manchester Mayor has emerged as the most likely figure who can succeed against Sir Keir in a head-to-head contest for leadership.
When asked by pollsters Ipsos whether the Labour leader would make a better Prime Minister against a host of other top politicians, 36 per cent of voters opted for Mr Burnham compared to 29 per cent for Sir Keir.
And the Labour mayor also narrowly leads Nigel Farage in their own matchup, with 33 per cent of Britons saying they would back Mr Burnham as PM versus the Reform UK leader.
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is meanwhile edging ahead of Sir Keir by just one per cent, with 26 per cent of voters voting in support of the opposition leader.
Keiran Pedley, director of UK Politics at Ipsos, said: "Both Andy Burnham and Kemi Badenoch will take positives from these figures.
"Burnham holds net positive favourable ratings and is preferred as Prime Minister to Keir Starmer and slightly leads Nigel Farage too.
"Meanwhile, Ms Badenoch’s personal poll ratings – and relative position versus Sir Keir and Mr Farage have also improved.
| IPSOS
"Of course, both still face significant obstacles to becoming Prime Minister.
"Andy Burnham isn’t in Parliament and whilst Badenoch’s personal ratings have improved, there is no notable uptick observed for her party."
Adam Drummond, Head of Quantative Research at Public First, said: "Keir Starmer has one of the worst approval ratings in modern history, and Andy Burnham only does four points better against Nigel Farage. Labour MPs will be wondering whether such a meagre gain is really worth risking a by-election and a leadership contest."
Mr Drummond also noted that the Prime Minister and Mr Farage were level in the poll, adding: "Farage is getting the support of almost everyone voting Reform and little else while there is about 13 per cent of the public who are choosing Starmer but not voting Labour.
"Yes there's a large 'neither' contingent but it does suggest that polls would tighten if the election became a more direct Labour/Reform contest."
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Andy Burnham was ahead of Sir Keir in the polling results
|IPSOS
Mr Burnham, an ex-Labour minister, has repeatedly refused to rule out a tilt at the top job in recent months.
However, he is now said to have identified a potential parliamentary seat from which to challenge Sir Keir.
Commons allies of the mayor said they had found him a seat which was “likely to come free” in the coming months, according to The Mail on Sunday.
Strategists working for Mr Burnham had drawn up a shortlist of potential target seats in the North West, including the Gorton and Denton seat held by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, the paper reported.
Former Labour minister Andy Burnham has repeatedly refused to rule out a tilt at the top job in recent months
|PA
The mayor’s team declined to comment, although in what appeared to be in reference to the speculation, he later posted on social media: “Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today.
“Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place!”
Amid the fresh speculation around Mr Burnham’s ambitions, Shabana Mahmood said Labour figures should "focus on the day job" of delivering for the public.
The Home Secretary said everyone within the party had their “role to play” in backing the Government.
Speaking on Sunday, Ms Mahmood suggested that “every single person” had thought about the top job, but added: “That is not the same as plotting to overthrow a prime minister for God’s sake.”
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