Andy Burnham Was 'Likely' to Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader
Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she called for her party to make more use of the popular Greater Manchester mayor.
A Surprise Victory for the Green Party
Overturning a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a local plumber, was elected as the party's fifth MP on Friday. This happened 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.
Fresh Questions Over Candidate Decision
The surprise result has sparked fresh debate of the party's choice to block Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.
In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "Andy Burnham probably would have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the same way 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, opposing the move.
Collective Decision
However, she told the BBC she understood "the group's decision" for the outcome, pointing to worries over necessitating a mayoral byelection 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 "see in him someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those core principles and Labour policies."
"We have to utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and consider how we could replicate that success nationally," she added.
Future Speculation
Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt 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 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.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to caution about the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces 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."
