The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Won the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Number Two
The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the recent Manchester byelection, while she urged her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.
An Unexpected Result for the Green Party
Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, 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.
Reform UK's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.
Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy
The unexpected outcome has sparked 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, stated, "He probably would have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the manner 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, opposing the move.
Accepting Responsibility
However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the outcome, pointing to worries over necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.
Powell also emphasized that her party must draw inspiration from the sources of 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 party pledges."
"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and reflect on how we could do that better across the country," she added.
Future Speculation
Andy Burnham is reportedly considering having another go at becoming an MP again. One ally 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 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 prominent voice on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is expected to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on tougher immigration measures next week.
A source close to the Home Secretary 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 just plain wrong."
