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

Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham could have triumphed in the recent Manchester byelection, as she urged her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Green Party

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

The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

The surprise result has sparked fresh debate of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, stated, "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 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 told the BBC she understood "the group's decision" for the ruling, pointing to worries over necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party must draw inspiration 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."

"We have to draw on that, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could replicate that success across the country," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt 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 vowed to fight on despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a stark warning" 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 stricter border controls next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary 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."