Andy Burnham has until 17:00 on Saturday to decide if he wants to stand for selection to the Gorton and Denton constituency, vacated by Labour MP Andrew Gwynne two days ago. His first step towards his ultimate goal of dislodging Keir Starmer from Number Ten is to seek permission to contest the forthcoming by-election. Labour's National Executive Committee stands in his way and reports suggest the NEC is split on its sympathies. Some are said to favour the status quo and want to block Burnham's request, while others - like deputy leader Lucy Powell - are said to be in favour of his candidacy.
We suspect Mr Burnham will have been making plenty of phone calls in the last 48 hours, sounding out the potential pitfall of this first step. He has so far said nothing publicly about his intentions.
Will he, won't he?
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