đŸ”— Share this article Andy Burnham Was 'Likely' to Have Secured the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could 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 Greens Overturning 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 almost one hundred years. The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia. Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision The surprise result has prompted renewed questioning of the party's choice to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month. In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He likely could have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have targeted 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 the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move. Accepting Responsibility However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, 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 core principles and party pledges." "We have to utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and reflect on how we could do that better nationally," she added. What Comes Next Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally 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 byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite calling the poll result "disappointing." Internal Reactions Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described 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 reported stating, "The Labour government should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."
The party's second-in-command has suggested that Andy Burnham could 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 Greens Overturning 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 almost one hundred years. The Reform Party's Matt Goodwin placed second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia. Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision The surprise result has prompted renewed questioning of the party's choice to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month. In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He likely could have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have targeted 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 the majority, including leader Keir Starmer, opposing the move. Accepting Responsibility However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the ruling, 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 core principles and party pledges." "We have to utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and reflect on how we could do that better nationally," she added. What Comes Next Andy Burnham is understood not to have ruled out another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally 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 byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on despite calling the poll result "disappointing." Internal Reactions Angela Rayner, a key figure on Labour's left, described 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 reported stating, "The Labour government should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is simply incorrect."