Starmer’s allies have launched a “Stop Andy Burnham” campaign to stop him from returning to Parliament
Steve Wright, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has made clear that Andy Burnham must be allowed to run in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
It has emerged that Keir Starmer’s allies have launched a “Stop Andy Burnham” campaign to block the Labour mayor from returning to Parliament.
This comes after Andrew Gwynne announced his resignation as an MP yesterday due to health issues. This means there is an opening for Burnham to return to Parliament.
However, the Manchester mayor has yet to confirm whether he will stand in the by-election.
Due to the number of Starmer loyalists on the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC), Burnham could be blocked from standing in the Manchester seat as the prime minister’s allies want to avoid a leadership challenge.
Before Labour Party conference last September, Burnham refused to rule out a return to Westminster and a challenge to Starmer.
There is also a new rule in the 2026 Labour rule book, which says: “Directly Elected Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners must seek the express permission of the NEC/SEC/WEC (as applicable) before seeking nomination as Labour candidates for the Westminster Parliament. The NEC/SEC/WEC’s decision shall be final”.
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary Steve Wright has said: “It would be a democratic outrage if Andy Burnham was blocked from seeking selection as Labour’s by-election candidate in this seat.
Wright added that the FBU, which is affiliated to the Labour Party, “will not stand by and allow senior Labour politicians like Andy to be carved out of this process”.
“Our union will fiercely resist any attempts to stitch up the selection,” he said.
“It’s vital that there is a full and open democratic procedure to choose Labour’s candidate to fight this by-election.
“Anything less would be unacceptable.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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