The Greater Manchester Mayor Was 'Likely' to Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two

Labour's deputy leader has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the recent Manchester byelection, while she urged her party to make more use of the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overturning 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 occurred in an area that had consistently returned Labour MPs for almost one hundred years.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin placed second, just ahead of the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Renewed Scrutiny Over Candidate Decision

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

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "Andy Burnham 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 sole member of Labour's top decision-making body to support allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Collective Decision

However, she told the BBC she understood "collective responsibility" for the outcome, pointing to worries over necessitating a separate election in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized that her party must learn from the reasons for 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 party pledges."

"It is essential we utilise that insight, leverage Andy Burnham, but also draw on that and consider how we could do that better across the country," she added.

Future Speculation

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

To date, Burnham himself has yet to comment on the Gorton and Denton outcome. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to continue despite labelling the poll result "disappointing."

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 expected to warn against the party moving to the left in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces new laws on 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 just plain wrong."