It's resulted in a mixed reaction...
After the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was blocked from standing as a candidate for the upcoming parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton by Labour’s ruling body, the decision has received a mixed reaction from the parliamentary party and other Labour figures.
Burnham said he was disappointed after Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee rejected his application with an 8-1 majority.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester has fuelled speculation for months that he could challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership, though would have to be an MP before launching any such challenge.
After former Labour Minister Andrew Gwynne announced he was standing down as an MP, Burnham announced his intention to apply as a candidate.
However, the Labour Party rejected his application in order to avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources. Some estimates put the cost to the party to as much as £500,000.
In a statement, the Labour Party said: “The NEC believes that causing an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of the local elections and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd in May.
“Although the Party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour’s control of Greater Manchester at any risk.”
Labour MP Clive Lewis said: “Blocking Andy Burnham from standing in Gorton and Denton is a serious political and democratic error. Local Labour members should have the right to decide who represents them.
“Taking that decision out of their hands reinforces exactly the sense of distance and control that is driving people away from mainstream politics. This comes at a moment when the threat from Reform is real and growing. If Labour cannot win and hold seats like Gorton and Denton, we are in far deeper trouble nationally.”
Brian Leishman posted on X: “The party have decided that they are willing to lose the Gorton and Denton by election because of their own weakness and insecurity. To block Andy Burnham is a disgraceful decision that is as undemocratic as it is cowardly.”
Nadia Whittome told Radio 4: “Blocking our only senior Labour politician with a net positive popularity rating…is putting petty factional manoeuvring and settling personal scores above winning elections”.
However, others like Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander told BBC Breakfast that blocking Burnham from the by-election has prevented “months of psychodrama”.
He said: “Frankly, if a different decision had been taken yesterday I think it’s perfectly plausible that we would have had months of psychodrama: ‘who’s in, who’s out, who’s up, who’s down in Westminster.”
Earlier this morning, Starmer defended his decision, telling journalists: “Andy Burnham is doing a great job as the Mayor of Manchester but having an election for the Mayor of Manchester when it is not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have that we must fight and win and resources, whether that’s money or people need to be focused on the elections that we must have not elections that we don’t have to have.”
Baroness Harman, a former Labour deputy leader, told the Today programme she was “slightly baffled” why Burnham applied when it “could or should have been clear to him that it would end up like it is now”, with rejection.
“What was going to be obvious was the NEC would support the position taken by the prime minister, which they did by eight to one,” she said, adding “it would have been better for him not to put in an application.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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