The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader

The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she called for her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 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 nearly a century.

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

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has prompted renewed questioning of the party's choice to block 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 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 the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Collective Decision

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

Powell also stressed that her party must draw inspiration from the reasons for 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 draw on that, make use of Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and consider how we could do that better nationally," she continued.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt 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."

So far, 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."

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to warn against the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes new laws on stricter border controls next week.

An insider was reported stating, "The Labour government should not misinterpret the message from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."