She lost the whip for four months last year over her opposition to the government’s welfare reforms — which were significantly watered down after a backbench rebellion.
Maskell already has a meeting with Burnham in the diary, and Noah Law, a 2024 intake Labour MP, says he is getting face time too.
“I’ve had more quality time with him than I have with any other senior figures or cabinet figures, let alone the prime minister,” Law said, advising Burnham must keep his “ear to the ground” going forward.
2. Accept disagreement
Burnham must not copy Starmer’s zero-tolerance approach to dissent and suspend MPs who vote against the government, MPs said.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, another welfare rebel who Starmer suspended, says the former Greater Manchester mayor must “ensure all voices are heard, and dissenting is not seen as disloyalty.”
He wants policies outside the 2024 manifesto “run past a backbench committee drawn from across the political spectrum” to avoid “making announcements in a vacuum and lacking support.”