Andy Burnham Was 'Likely' to Have Secured the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Number Two

The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the recent Manchester byelection, while she urged her party to make more use of the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Green Party

Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, was elected as the 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 placed second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny 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.

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 manner that they did."

Powell was the sole member of Labour's top decision-making body to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, pointing to worries over 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 "see in him someone who is on their side, someone who is delivering those core principles and party pledges."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and reflect on how we could do that better 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, "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 pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disheartening."

Party Response

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 set to caution about the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes new laws on tougher immigration measures next week.

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