Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two
Labour's deputy leader has suggested 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, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, was elected as the party's fifth MP on Friday. This happened in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.
Reform UK's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.
Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision
The unexpected outcome has sparked fresh debate 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, remarked, "Andy Burnham probably would have held the seat. I think definitely 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 support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.
Accepting Responsibility
However, she told the BBC she understood "the group's decision" for the ruling, pointing to worries over necessitating a separate election 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 core principles and party pledges."
"We have to draw on that, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better nationally," she continued.
Future Speculation
Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. One ally commented, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never."
So far, Burnham himself has yet to comment on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disheartening."
Party Response
Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a wake-up call" 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 legislation for 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 alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."
