The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Won Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Number Two

Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she called for her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, became 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 finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has sparked renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to block Andy Burnham from contesting 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 gone after the seat in the same way 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, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she accepted "collective responsibility" for the ruling, citing concern about triggering a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized that her party needed to learn from the reasons for Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is on their side, someone who is delivering those Labour values and party pledges."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better across the country," she added.

Future Speculation

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."

So far, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disappointing."

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 expected to caution about the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on stricter border controls 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 alienating support over immigration is just plain wrong."