Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Secured Gorton and Denton Byelection, States Labour Deputy Leader

The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she called for her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, a local Green councillor, a local plumber, became the party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had elected Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.

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

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

The surprise result has sparked renewed questioning of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

In an interview with 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 only member of Labour's top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she accepted "collective responsibility" for the outcome, citing concern about necessitating a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party needed to learn from the sources of Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is fighting for them, someone who is delivering those Labour values and Labour policies."

"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.

What Comes Next

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

So far, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite labelling the poll result "disheartening."

Party Response

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

In contrast, the Home Secretary is expected to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as the government proposes new laws on tougher immigration measures 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."