Keir Starmer branded a 'dead man walking' and a 'snake' in blistering tirade by longtime Andy Burnham ally

On Sunday, the National Executive Committee (NEC) denied Mr Burnham permission to stand in order to avoid "an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor".

Mr Burnham hit out at Sir Keir and his allies in control of the NEC, writing on X: "I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.

"To whoever is Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support and I will be there whenever you need me."

Defending the decision, Sir Keir said while Mr Burnham is "doing a great job" locally, a parliamentary bid could "divert resources" from Labour’s local elections endeavours in May.

Delivering his verdict on the decision, Mr Lord told GB News: "I think this shows the makeup of the man. He's a weak leader. How can someone win such a whopping majority and be the most despised leader that we've had in just an 18-month period, and that includes Liz Truss.

"I had my own issue with him actually, 12 months ago when I wrote a very public letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who made me a lot of promises during the manifesto launch, one of them being, well, let's reform business rates, let's make it fairer.

"What's she done? Pubs have now got an increase of 76 per cent, hotels 115 per cent. It's alarming what they're doing. The PM's response on the back of my letter was he unfollowed me on Twitter. I mean, how childish, how playground is that?"

Criticising Sir Keir and the NEC for "forcing his hand" and blocking his chance of standing in the by-election, Mr Lord fumed: "Andy was thinking about it with his close team, and then the rules changed on Friday night. They fought his hand and said, well, if you're going to go for it, you need to tell us by 5:00pm tomorrow.

"And he came out at five, and he really did think long and hard about that decision. And what an absolute snake, Starmer stabbed him in the back by voting against him. He's spineless, and he's upset a lot of people, not just in the North."

He added: "Everyone I've spoken to today is feeling that actually what he's done, he has made Andy Burnham more powerful. Everybody's looking at Andy Burnham now, and he has got more class than Starmer could ever have.

"This morning he was giving a speech and he was representing Greater Manchester. And furthermore, he said to people, 'look, we've got a by-election now on the 26th of February, we need to support that candidate', and that's the kind of person Andy Burnham is."

As host Martin Daubney argued that critics believe the decision has "delayed the termination of Keir Starmer's premiership", Mr Lord agreed: "You're absolutely right, Martin. There's no way to cotton wool this, Keir Starmer is now a dead man walking.

"He's handed Reform the by-election on the 26th of February, that's a done deal, so that's the first punch. And the second punch is they are going to get wiped out on the local elections on the 7th of May."

Predicting there will be a new Prime Minister in situ come May, Mr Burnham's ally told GB News: "What's really alarming for me is I was Andy Burnham's adviser, but for over 30 years I put events and festivals on in Greater Manchester and I've dealt with many, many really good, hard working Labour councillors who are now about to lose their jobs because of what's going on in the very, very top seeds.

"And it's a shame, I feel sorry for them. They've been doing these jobs for for many, many years and a fish rots from the head. He is a dead man walking and I think there'll be a new Prime Minister in post come July."

Pressed on whether it will trigger a full general election in May, Mr Lord disagreed: "I don't think there'll be a general election, but I think what will happen is come May, there is going to be a leadership contest.

"And on the back of that, he will lose his seats in July."

Questioned on whether Mr Burnham will be "back with a vengence", Mr Lord concluded: "You can never write off Andy Burnham, that's one thing that I am sure about. But there's talks about Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner and all sorts, so it's going to be a very interesting the next few months."