The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to 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 Gorton and Denton byelection, as 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 previous general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber, 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 Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has prompted renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.

In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "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 ruling national executive committee to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Collective Decision

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

Powell also emphasized that her party needed to learn from the sources of Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those core principles and Labour policies."

"We have to utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better across the country," she continued.

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 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 calling the poll result "disappointing."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a key figure 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 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 learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."