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

Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham would have triumphed in the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she urged her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, 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.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

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

Speaking to 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 manner that they did."

Powell was the only member of Labour's top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Accepting Responsibility

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

Powell also stressed that her party must 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 delivering 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 nationally," she continued.

What Comes Next

Andy Burnham is reportedly considering having another go at returning to parliament. One ally said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never."

To date, Burnham himself has yet to comment on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set 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 learn the wrong lessons from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."