The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, Says Labour Deputy Leader

The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham could have won the recent Manchester byelection, as she urged her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Greens

Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last 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 elected Labour MPs for nearly a century.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin placed second, just ahead of the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has prompted renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.

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

Powell was the sole member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Collective Decision

However, she stated she accepted "the group's decision" for the outcome, citing concern about necessitating a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized that her party must draw inspiration from the reasons for Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those Labour values and Labour policies."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and reflect on how we could do that better nationally," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. One ally commented, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise to say he would never."

So far, Burnham himself has yet to comment on the Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite calling the poll result "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.

In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.

An insider was reported stating, "The party should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."