Liverpool Metro Mayor calls for unity in fight against Reform in Gorton and Denton

Steve Rotheram has criticised the culture of briefings made by anonymous sources to attack their fellow Labour colleagues as the party battles to defeat Reform UK in a by-election.

In an exclusive ‘In Conversation’ with LabourList, in partnership with the Fabian Society, the Metro Mayor for the Liverpool City Region described anonymous briefings as the “bit that I’ve always hated in politics”.

It comes after Downing Street sources issued briefings critical of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham following his attempt to stand as the candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Rotherham said: “I’ve never done anything that was unattributed to me – if it’s what I want to say, I’ve never said ‘a spokesperson for Steve Rotheram said such and such.’

“We seem to get a lot of these people who feel comfortable briefing against other Labour politicians and I hate it. I don’t care who it is, I’ve always hated it. When the Brown/Blair stuff was going on, I didn’t like it then and it’s gone on a lot before that.

“To then see somebody totally misrepresenting what somebody has achieved, I thought that was enough.”

Over the weekend, Rotheram posted a statement on social media calling on all sides cease briefings against each other “for the sake of our party”.

He told LabourList: “What I wanted to do genuinely is to put a line in the sand and say let’s move on, let’s put all this to one side, because the most important thing for all of us is that we don’t get Reform winning that by-election. That’s why Andy Burnham went out on the Sunday afterwards to campaign for our candidate there.

“I think we’ve got a really good candidate to tell you the truth – somebody who knows the area, which I also think is really important. It’s somebody we can get behind.”

“The party at this moment needs to all get behind what’s happening in Greater Manchester and get that candidate with a decent enough majority so Reform can’t somehow claim victory in whatever bizarre and perverse way they often do.”

He also warned of the threat that Reform UK poses, and the dangerous potential of Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister.

“They are an existential threat, not just to the Labour Party, but to this country – and if we ever see that man, Farage, ever walking down Downing Street, it would strike fear into everybody that I know, everybody who believes in that social justice element of politics.”

You can watch the full interview with Steve Rotheram here.

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