The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two

Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she urged her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, was elected as the Green 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, just ahead of the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result has sparked fresh debate of the party's choice to prevent 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 definitely the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the manner that they did."

Powell was the sole member of Labour's top decision-making body 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 outcome, pointing to worries over triggering a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized 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 on their side, someone who is delivering those core principles and party pledges."

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

What Comes Next

Andy Burnham is reportedly considering another attempt at returning to parliament. One ally 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 not publicly spoken on the Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Party Response

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

In contrast, the Home Secretary is set to caution about the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes new laws on stricter border controls next week.

An insider was quoted as saying, "The Labour government should not misinterpret the message from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."