Andy Burnham Was 'Likely' to Have Won Gorton and Denton Byelection, Says Labour Deputy Leader
The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham would have triumphed in the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she called for her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.
A Surprise Victory for the Greens
Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, became the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had elected Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.
The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.
Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision
The surprise result has prompted fresh debate of the party's controversial decision to block Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.
Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "Andy Burnham likely could have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the manner that they did."
Powell was the only member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.
Collective Decision
However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, pointing to worries over necessitating a separate election in Greater Manchester.
Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn from the reasons for Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is on their side, someone who is implementing those Labour values and Labour policies."
"We have to utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and reflect on how we could replicate that success across the country," she added.
Future Speculation
Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. A source close to him 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 yet to comment on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disheartening."
Internal Reactions
Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is expected to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on stricter border controls next week.
A source close to the Home Secretary was quoted as saying, "The party should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."
