Burnham campaign would help Corbyn and Creagh get on the ballot – but only a little

Andy Burnham’s campaign has told LabourList that it would help other candidates get on the ballot paper but only if they are “missing one or two” nominations.

Burnham is the frontrunner in the race for the Labour leadership, with 51 Labour MPs backing him so far. Candidates need to be nominated by 35 MPs to get on the ballot.

Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendal are believed to be on course to secure the level of support needed to cross this threshold, but Jeremy Corbyn and Mary Creagh could struggle to meet this target.

Announcing he would stand yesterday, Corbyn was frank about his chances, telling the Mirror that he was going to “see if there is enough support to have a stab at it.”

Diane Abbott reached the ballot for the Labour leadership in 2010 after David Miliband transferred his and some of his supporters’ nomination to her. Former ministers Jack Straw, Denis MacShane and Phil Woolas followed his lead.

That precedent has made Corbyn’s supporters hopeful that Burnham will urge some of those endorsing him to do the same this time, and ensure the widest possible debate.

However, the Burnham campaign’s position is that it will only ask supporters to back candidates if they are only one or two nominations short of 35. Securing 33 nominations could therefore still prove a formidable challenge for Corbyn and Creagh.