Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, Says Labour Number Two
Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she called for her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.
An Unexpected Result for the Green Party
Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, was elected as the party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.
The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.
Fresh Questions Over Candidate Decision
The surprise result has sparked renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to block Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.
Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "Andy Burnham probably would have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the same way that they did."
Powell was the only member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to support allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.
Collective Decision
However, she stated she accepted "collective responsibility" for the ruling, pointing to worries over necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.
Powell also emphasized that her party needed to draw inspiration from the reasons for Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those core principles and party pledges."
"It is essential we draw on that, make use of Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better across the country," she added.
What Comes Next
Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally commented, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never."
To date, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."
Party Response
Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is expected to warn against the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.
An insider was quoted as saying, "The Labour government should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is just plain wrong."
