Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader

Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the recent Manchester byelection, as she urged her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Green Party

Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous 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 almost one hundred years.

The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

The unexpected outcome has sparked renewed questioning 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, remarked, "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 top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she understood "the group's decision" for the outcome, citing concern about triggering a separate election 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 "view him as someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those Labour values and Labour policies."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and consider how we could do that better across the country," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. One ally said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise to say he would never."

So far, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite labelling the poll result "disappointing."

Internal Reactions

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

In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to caution about the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.

An insider was reported stating, "The party should not misinterpret the message from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."