The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Number Two

Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she called for her party to make more use of the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Green Party

Overturning a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last 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, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

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

In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "Andy Burnham probably would have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the same way that they did."

Powell was the only member of Labour's top decision-making body to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Collective Decision

However, she told the BBC she understood "collective responsibility" for the outcome, pointing to worries over necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

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

"It is essential we utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and reflect on how we could do that better across the country," she continued.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at returning to parliament. A source close to him commented, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never."

So far, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disappointing."

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.

Meanwhile, 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 new laws on tougher immigration measures next week.

An insider was quoted as saying, "The Labour government should not learn the wrong lessons from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."