Prospect of Labour leadership race brings out different sides of rivals

Burnham and Streeting’s latest stances confound caricatures of left and right as party faces electoral bind The Labour party seems to have inhabited three parallel worlds over the past fortnight. There is a prime minister celebrating good news on the economy and lower migration figures and breezily insisting he will fight the next election, but with his party intent on deposing him. There is a byelection where Andy Burnham, the party’s leftwing hope for prime minister, will have to demonstrate he can win over Reform UK voters on migration, and the bond markets on fiscal rules. And there is the golden boy of the party’s right, Wes Streeting, unable to secure enough support to mount a challenge but merrily carrying on a campaign to win members’ hearts, with ideas including a decidedly leftwing plan for higher wealth taxes. All of them are potential contenders in a leadership contest that does not exist yet. There is a chance it may not ever exist – depending on the whims of the voters of Makerfield, the ability of Keir Starmer to confront reality, Labour MPs’ appetite for risk. But the fantasy contest has meant we are seeing surprising sides to its rivals. Burnham, who criticised the