The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Won the Recent Byelection, Says Labour Deputy Leader

Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham could have won the recent Manchester byelection, as she urged her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Green Party

Overturning a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, a community tradesperson, became 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 finished second, narrowly beating the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has sparked 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, stated, "He probably would 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, voting against.

Collective Decision

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

Powell also emphasized that her party must learn from the sources of Burnham's strong support in the region. She said people "view him as someone who is fighting for them, someone who is implementing those Labour values and party pledges."

"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.

What Comes Next

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

To date, Burnham himself has not publicly spoken on the byelection result. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite calling the poll result "disappointing."

Party Response

Angela Rayner, a prominent voice on Labour's left, described the byelection result "a stark warning" 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 stricter border controls next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary 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 just plain wrong."