The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Won the Recent 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 leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Green Party

Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, was elected as the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.

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

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has prompted fresh debate of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "Andy Burnham probably would have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have gone after 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, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

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

Powell also emphasized that her party needed to draw inspiration 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 core principles and Labour policies."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could replicate that success nationally," she continued.

What Comes Next

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. A source close to him commented, "With all the chaos and turmoil, 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 vowed to fight on despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice 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 shifting leftward 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 Labour government should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is just plain wrong."