Minister calls for ‘swift transition’ of power to Burnham without challenge over Labour leadership – UK politics live

This is what the Press Association is reporting about the two MPs who have not ruled out challenging Andy Burnham for the Labour leadership. PA says:

double quotation mark Cabinet minister Darren Jones and former armed forces minister Al Carns are being considered as potential candidates by Labour MPs wary about installing Mr Burnham in No 10 without a contest.

Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister and a key ally of Keir Starmer, is one potential candidate with support from those loyal to the outgoing Labour leader.

Sources close to Jones said he was not currently minded to run in a contest but that he would want assurances on Burnham’s approach to economic policy, amid concerns among some of potential unease in the markets.

Burnham is set to make a major speech next week to set out key aspects of his economic policy, including confirmation he will stick to the current chancellor Rachel Reeves’ rules for managing the public finances.

The second potential rival to Burnham is former Royal Marines officer Carns , who is making up his mind whether to launch a leadership campaign.

He suggested on ITV’s Peston he was considering what to do before nominations for the Labour leadership open on 9 July .

“I’m not ready to make a decision on this in any way, shape or form,” he said.

“What I would say is we need to move from the politics which talk through the tactics and actually think about the strategy, and what I’m really looking for are big objective outcomes that we want to get to in 2029 and 2034-35”.

He said: “we need to have a clear and concise discussion about what this country wants to be at the next general election and the general election after that”.