Greater Manchester mayor and former Labour cabinet member Andy Burnham has declined to commit to seeing out his full mayoral term amid speculation he could mount a fresh bid to be Labour leader.

Burnham, who has been mayor since 2017, told BBC Radio Manchester his “full intention” was to remain in his position until he is up for re-election in May 2028.

However, he added: “If events change, I’m not necessarily going to be stuck religiously in one way of thinking,” adding the country was in “a reasonably turbulent place”.

When asked if he had ambitions for the Labour leadership, Burnham said he loved his job but when pressed said he had “never ruled out going back to Westminster”.

He continued: “Obviously, I do watch what is going on down there, so I’m not going to say not.

“This is the thing I want to get over to people – it wouldn’t be me saying ‘right I’m going to put myself right out there again’.

“It would have to come in a different direction of people.”

Burham is not currently eligible to stand to be Labour leader because he is not an MP, but there has been speculation he could run in a by-election.

When asked if he would stand for a seat in Greater Manchester if one came up, Burnham said: “I honestly don’t know, it’s a hypothetical question.”

His comments come amid speculation around Keir Starmer’s leadership.

Sir Keir has faced pressure around his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as his ambassador to the US, despite Mandelson’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The scandal, coming so soon after Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister, has encouraged some Labour MPs to become more vocal about their frustrations with the prime minister’s leadership and the wider Downing Street operation.

One of the contenders to replace Rayner, Lucy Powell, on Wednesday hit back at claims her deputy leadership bid was a “proxy” for a leadership bid by Burnham.

Burnham served as the MP for the seat of Leigh from 2001 to 2017, and held ministerial positions at the Home Office, Department of Health and the Treasury. He made an unsuccessful bid for Labour leadership in 2010 and again in 2015.

He said he believed the work he had done as mayor, especially around devolution, was “the way forward” for the country.

Burnham said: “Before anyone leaps to ‘who’s the next person’, it’s got to be, ‘why have we had a decade now of real turbulence?’.

“We need a plan for the country that puts us back on a good course.”