They met in private. No advisers. No photographs. Just Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham, sitting on what Labour sources helpfully described as "comfy chairs" in the mayor's Manchester office.

If that sounds like a scene from a political sitcom, that's because Labour has become one.

The meeting was supposed to "bury the hatchet" ahead of tomorrow's Gorton and Denton by-election. It didn't.

Burnham hasn't abandoned his parliamentary ambitions. He turned down Starmer's offer of a safe northern seat in 2027. He doesn't want a gift. He wants the leadership.

The relationship between the two has been in the gutter since Starmer's team tried to control the Gorton candidate selection. Burnham's allies saw it as an invasion of their territory. The northern Labour machine, once Burnham's personal fiefdom, is now a battleground.

According to Guido Fawkes, Burnham's faction is targeting NEC elections this summer. Win those, and the soft left gets a hand on the steering wheel of the party. Lose Gorton tomorrow, and Starmer's authority crumbles even further.

Burnham has calculated that playing nice before the by-election serves his interests either way. If Labour wins, he's the unity candidate. If Labour loses, he's the man who tried to help while Starmer drove the car off the cliff.

The "comfy chairs" detail is perfect. It's exactly how this government operates. Performative comfort while everything falls apart. A nice chat while the building burns.

Starmer's biggest threat isn't Reform. It isn't the Greens. It's the man who sat across from him on those comfy chairs, smiling, waiting.