The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Secured the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Number Two
Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham would have triumphed in the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she called for her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.
A Surprise Victory for the Green Party
Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, was elected as the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for nearly a century.
Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.
Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision
The unexpected outcome has sparked renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.
In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He likely could have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the manner that they did."
Powell was the sole member of Labour's top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.
Collective Decision
However, she told the BBC she understood "collective responsibility" for the outcome, pointing to worries over necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.
Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn from the sources of Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is on their side, someone who is delivering those core principles and Labour policies."
"We have to draw on that, make use of Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better nationally," she continued.
Future Speculation
Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never."
So far, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite calling the poll result "disheartening."
Internal Reactions
Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.
In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to caution about the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes legislation for stricter border controls next week.
A source close to the Home Secretary was quoted as saying, "The Labour government should not misinterpret the message from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is just plain wrong."
