The Greater Manchester Mayor Would 'Probably' Have Won Gorton and Denton Byelection, Says Labour Deputy Leader

Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, while she called for her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the previous general election, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, was elected as the Green Party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for nearly a century.

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

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

The surprise result 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 likely could have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have gone after the seat in the same way that they did."

Powell was the sole member of Labour's ruling national executive committee to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Collective Decision

However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, pointing to worries over triggering a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party needed to 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 Labour values and party pledges."

"We have to draw on that, make use of Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and consider how we could replicate that success across the country," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at becoming an MP again. A source close to him said, "Given the current political climate, who knows what might happen. It would be unwise to say he would never."

So far, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disheartening."

Party Response

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

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.

An insider 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 simply incorrect."