Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Number Two

The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, as she urged her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a sizable 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a local plumber, was elected as the 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, just ahead of the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

The surprise result has prompted renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to block 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 targeted the seat in the same way that they did."

Powell was the sole member of Labour's top decision-making body to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Collective Decision

However, she stated she understood "the group's decision" for the outcome, pointing to worries over triggering a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party must learn from the reasons for Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is on their side, someone who is delivering those core principles and Labour policies."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and consider how we could do that better nationally," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at returning to parliament. A source close to him said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never."

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

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, called the byelection result "a wake-up call" for the party.

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is expected to caution about the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary was quoted as saying, "The party should not learn the wrong lessons from its electoral setback. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is just plain wrong."