Sir Keir Starmer warned Andy Burnham not to throw the country into “chaos” by launching a leadership challenge if he wins a return to Westminster.
The Greater Manchester mayor hopes to win Thursday’s Makerfield by-election and could then launch a campaign to replace Sir Keir as prime minister and Labour leader.
Sir Keir insisted he would fight any leadership challenge but acknowledged voters’ frustrations with the lack of progress in his efforts to change the country.
“I don’t think we should have a challenge, because I think it’ll throw the country into chaos,” he told ITV’s This Morning.
“If there is a challenge, I will fight. I’m not going to walk away from this.
“We won a landslide victory just two years ago with a clear mandate to change the country, that’s a five-year mandate.”
Sir Keir’s premiership has been under pressure since Labour’s drubbing in May’s local and devolved elections.
Mr Burnham would need to secure the backing of 81 Labour MPs to mount a leadership challenge.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting and ex-armed forces minister Al Carns have also signalled they would run in any contest to replace Sir Keir.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to deliver the change that people voted for in the 2024 Labour landslide.
“What we did was offer change. I always said that would take time.
“Do I understand that people are frustrated and say ‘I haven’t seen enough change yet?’ Yes, of course I do.
“We need to complete on the work that we are doing, but… if you’ve waited best part of 20 years for your living standards to improve, you want that to happen more quickly. I completely understand that.”
Mr Burnham could swiftly launch a leadership bid if he is victorious in the by-election, according to multiple reports, although his spokesperson ruled out speculation that it could happen within hours.
While some in his campaign were initially in favour of holding off until after Labour’s September conference, the resignations last week of John Healey as defence secretary and Al Carns as armed forces minister over military funding persuaded them to act more quickly, The Times reported.
Mr Burnham said that he had been “honest” with voters that “my own side’s not good enough”.
He said: “I kind of feel as we go into the final stretch that the voters of this constituency could be about to write a new script for British politics, and how good is that?
“Change the story.
“It’s becoming more and more divided, isn’t it?
“And we can see what’s happening.
“We don’t want to end up like the United States of America, where people don’t talk to each other in the street if they vote different ways.”
The Makerfield by-election is widely expected to be a two-horse race between Mr Burnham and the Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon.
The contest was triggered by former minister Josh Simons quitting to open up a path for Mr Burnham’s return to the Commons.
Mr Simons won Makerfield in 2024 by just 5,399 votes while Reform comfortably won every ward in the constituency in May’s local elections.
