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

The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she urged her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, was elected as the 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 Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result has sparked renewed questioning of the party's choice to prevent Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He probably would 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 top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Collective Decision

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

Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn from the sources of Burnham's widespread popularity 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 learn from it and reflect on how we could do that better across the country," she continued.

What Comes Next

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. One ally said, "With all the chaos and turmoil, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise 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."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on stricter border controls 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 simply incorrect."