Read our Privacy noticeAndy Burnham has admitted that being blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election was “hard”, but said he still worked with Sir Keir Starmer afterwards. In January, the then prime minister Sir Keir blocked Mr Burnham's attempt to return to Westminster in the Gorton and Denton by-election, voting with other members of the party’s National Executive Committee to reject his request to be allowed to stand. He also admitted that his wife was hesitant about his bid to become prime minister after he failed to become the Labour Party leader twice. “She's quite blunt in telling me about my failures in past endeavours, and she doesn't hold back, and there's no soft landing there,” the prime minister added. Asked whether he was prime minister now despite those failed leadership runs or because of them, he replied: “Probably because of them.