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

The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham would have triumphed in the recent Manchester byelection, while she called for her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Green Party

Overturning a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber, was elected as the party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had elected Labour MPs for nearly a century.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has sparked fresh debate of the party's choice 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 definitely the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the manner that they did."

Powell was the only member of Labour's top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Collective Decision

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

Powell also stressed that her party needed to draw inspiration from the sources of Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is on their side, someone who is implementing those Labour values and Labour policies."

"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 added.

What Comes Next

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at returning to parliament. A source close to him commented, "With all the chaos and turmoil, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise to say he would never."

To date, Burnham himself has yet to comment on the Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a stark warning" for the party.

In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to caution about the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes legislation for stricter border controls next week.

An insider was quoted as saying, "The Labour government should not misinterpret the message from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is simply incorrect."