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

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

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overturning a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber, was elected as the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.

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

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

The unexpected outcome has prompted renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "He likely could have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the same way 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.

Collective Decision

However, she told the BBC she understood "collective responsibility" for the outcome, citing concern about necessitating a mayoral byelection 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."

"It is essential we draw on that, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better nationally," she continued.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally commented, "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 pledged to continue despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

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

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to caution about the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on tougher immigration measures next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary was quoted as saying, "The party should not misinterpret the message from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."