The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Secured the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Deputy Leader

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

A Surprise Victory for the Green Party

Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, was elected as the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had elected Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.

The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

The unexpected outcome has prompted fresh debate of the party's controversial decision to block Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.

In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "He probably would have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the manner that they did."

Powell was the only member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to support allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she accepted "collective responsibility" for the ruling, citing concern about triggering a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn from the sources of Burnham's widespread popularity 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."

"We have to utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and consider how we could replicate that success nationally," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is reportedly considering having another go at becoming an MP again. One ally said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish 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 "disheartening."

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a wake-up call" 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.

An insider was quoted as saying, "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."