'People have contacted me!' Andy Burnham claims Labour MPs want him to challenge Keir Starmer

Mr Burnham, who received Sir Keir's backing in the 2015 Labour Party leadership contest, backs hikes council tax on southern homes, borrowing £40billion to build council houses, cutting income tax for low earners and bringing back a 50p rate for the highest paid.

However, the ex-Health Secretary's admission about the messages he has received from Labour MPs will sound alarm bells for No10.

“People have contacted me throughout the summer – yeah," the Greater Manchester Mayor told The Telegraph.

“I’m not going to say to you that that hasn’t happened, but as I say, it’s more a decision for those people than it is for me.”

However, the former Leigh MP faces a number of hurdles before challenging Sir Keir for Labour's leadership.

Mr Burnham would need to resign as Greater Manchester Mayor, win a Westminster seat in a by-election, and receive at least 80 nominations from Labour MPs.

Despite losing miserably to Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership contest, opinion polls suggest Mr Burnham is the clear frontrunner to replace Sir Keir in No10.

A survey conducted in July by Ipsos Mori found that Mr Burnham was the public's top choice for the Labour leadership, opening up a nine-point leader over Sir Keir.

Mr Burnham's net score stood at 12 per cent, with the Prime Minister's sinking into the red at -20 per cent.

However, Labour MPs who have been supportive of Mr Burnham have been trying to convince the ex-Health Secretary to formally throw his hat into the ring.

“If Andy’s going to go, he’s got to come out," one MP told The Telegraph. "He’s got to stop playing footsie with the Labour Party and say that the current man’s not up to it."

The door seemed to shut on Mr Burnham's rumoured bid after two Greater Manchester MPs ended speculation that they could trigger by-elections.

Gorton & Denton MP Andrew Gwynne and Blackley & Middleton South MP Graham Stringer both instead committed to representing their Manchester constituents in Westminster.

Mr Gwynne, who backed Mr Burnham's 2015 Labour leadership bid, said: “The route to No 10 is not going to be through Gorton & Denton.”

Opinion polls have also suggested that Mr Burnham will need to find a safer Labour seat if he is to avoid a potentially bruising defeat at the hands of Reform UK in Greater Manchester.

Polling aggregator Nowcast puts Reform UK ahead of Labour in Mr Stringer's seat of Heywood & Middleton South and in Mr Burnham's former constituency of Leigh & Atherton.

However, Labour retains a narrow four-point lead over Reform UK in Mr Gwynne's Gorton & Denton seat.

Reform UK insiders believe that Nigel Farage's new campaign machine will thwart Mr Burnham's rumoured plot to return to Westminster.

"Burnham faces the same dilemma as Boris, Reform UK's policy chief Zia Yusuf said. "There’s no seat he’d be assured of winning in pursuit of the leadership.

"He’d be up against a Reform campaign machine that’s even stronger now than it was in Runcorn & Helsby when we won a 'safe' Labour seat. Does he have the stones?"

Despite Mr Burnham's path to power facing a number of obstacles, the Greater Manchester Mayor has repeatedly refused to rule out a return to Westminster.

Speaking to GB News in Liverpool last year, Mr Burnham said: “I am committed to my third term, absolutely. I’m not planning to head back to Westminster any time soon.”

When asked if that would mean Mr Burnham would never head back, the former Health Secretary chuckled.

Mr Burnham, who continues to enjoy broad support from northern Labour MPs, also refused to shut down speculation this week.

He said: “I have never ruled out going back to Westminster.”

Mr Burnham is expected to make a handful of appearances at the Labour Party Conference next week, with the Greater Manchester Mayor preparing to set out his own “plan for the country and a plan to beat Reform”.