The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two
Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham could have won the recent Manchester byelection, as she called for her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.
An Unexpected Result for the Green Party
Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, Hannah Spencer, 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.
Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.
Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy
The surprise result has prompted fresh debate of the party's choice to block Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.
In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "Andy Burnham probably would have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the manner that they did."
Powell was the sole 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 told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the outcome, citing concern about necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.
Powell also emphasized that her party must learn 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 implementing those Labour values and party pledges."
"We have to utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and reflect on 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 Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disappointing."
Party Response
Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is expected to caution about the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces 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 losing Muslim voters over immigration is just plain wrong."
