Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader

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

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, became the party's fifth MP on Friday. This happened in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for nearly a century.

The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin finished second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result has sparked 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, 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 only member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she stated she accepted "collective responsibility" for the ruling, citing concern about triggering a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized that her party needed to draw inspiration from the reasons for Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is fighting for them, someone who is implementing those Labour values and party pledges."

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

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 not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on 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.

In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to caution about the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on tougher immigration measures next week.

An insider was reported stating, "The party should not misinterpret the message from its electoral setback. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is just plain wrong."