The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader
The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the recent Manchester byelection, while she called for her party to make more use of the popular Greater Manchester mayor.
An Unexpected Result for the Green Party
Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber, 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.
The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin finished second, narrowly beating the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.
Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy
The unexpected outcome has sparked renewed questioning of the party's choice to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.
In an interview with 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 same way 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.
Accepting Responsibility
However, she stated she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, citing concern about necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.
Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn 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 party pledges."
"It is essential we utilise that insight, 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 another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise to say he would never."
To date, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite calling the poll result "disheartening."
Party Response
Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes new laws on stricter border controls 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 alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."
