Andy Burnham Was 'Likely' to Have Secured the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Deputy Leader

The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could have won the recent Manchester byelection, while she urged her party to make more use of the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Green Party

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, became 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 official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Candidate Decision

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

Speaking to 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 only 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.

Collective Decision

However, she told the BBC she accepted "collective responsibility" for the outcome, citing concern about necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn from the sources of Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is on their side, someone who is implementing those Labour values and Labour policies."

"It is essential we draw on that, leverage Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and reflect on how we could replicate that success across the country," she continued.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at returning to parliament. 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 vowed to fight on despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a key figure 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 legislation for stricter border controls next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary was reported stating, "The Labour government should not misinterpret the message from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is just plain wrong."