The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Secured the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Number Two

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

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overturning a sizable 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 elected Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.

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

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result 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 likely could have held the seat. I think certainly 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 support allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she understood "collective responsibility" for the outcome, citing concern about necessitating a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party must learn 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 core principles and party pledges."

"We have to 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 reportedly considering another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally said, "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 pledged to continue despite labelling the poll result "disappointing."

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 set to caution about 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 quoted as saying, "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."