Andy Burnham Was 'Likely' to Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Number Two

Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the recent Manchester byelection, as she called for her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Green Party

Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, was elected as the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This happened in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for nearly a century.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result has sparked fresh debate of the party's choice to prevent Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He probably would have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the same way that they did."

Powell was the sole member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she stated she understood "collective responsibility" for the ruling, citing concern about triggering a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party needed to draw inspiration from the reasons for Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those core principles and Labour policies."

"We have to draw on that, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better across the country," she continued.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is reportedly considering having another go at becoming an MP again. One ally said, "With all the chaos and turmoil, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise 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, described 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 new laws on tougher immigration measures next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary was reported stating, "The party should not learn the wrong lessons from its electoral setback. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."