The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Won Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Number Two

The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she called for her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Greens

Overturning a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, became the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This happened in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for nearly a century.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Candidate Decision

The surprise result has sparked renewed questioning of the party's choice 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 probably would have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the same way that they did."

Powell was the sole member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she stated she understood "collective responsibility" for the outcome, citing concern about triggering a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized that her party needed to draw inspiration from the reasons for Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is on their side, someone who is implementing those Labour values and Labour policies."

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

What Comes Next

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 unwise to say he would never."

To date, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. 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, called the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.

In contrast, the Home Secretary is set 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 losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."