The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Won Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader

Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the recent Manchester byelection, as she called for her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a local plumber, 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.

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

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

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

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "He likely could 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 ruling national executive committee to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Accepting Responsibility

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

Powell also stressed 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 delivering those core principles and party pledges."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better nationally," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at becoming an MP again. A source close to him commented, "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 pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disappointing."

Party Response

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

In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary 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."