Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Secured the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two

The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham could have won the recent Manchester 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 elected Labour MPs for nearly a century.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result has sparked renewed questioning of the party's choice to prevent Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "Andy Burnham likely could 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 ruling national executive committee to support allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she stated she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, citing concern about necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party needed to 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 Labour values and Labour policies."

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

What Comes Next

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. One ally said, "With all the chaos and turmoil, 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 calling the poll result "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a wake-up call" 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 new laws on stricter border controls next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary 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."