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

The party's second-in-command has indicated that Andy Burnham would have won the recent Manchester byelection, while she called for her party to leverage the influential Greater Manchester mayor.

An Unexpected Result for the Greens

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

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

Renewed Scrutiny Over Blocked Candidacy

The unexpected outcome has sparked renewed questioning of the party's choice to block Andy Burnham from contesting the seat last month.

Speaking to the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He likely could have held the seat. I think definitely the Greens wouldn't have gone after 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.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she accepted "the group's decision" for the outcome, pointing to worries over triggering a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also stressed that her party must draw inspiration 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 utilise that insight, make use of Andy Burnham, but also learn from it and reflect on how we could do that better nationally," she added.

Future Speculation

Andy Burnham is reportedly considering another attempt at becoming an MP again. One ally commented, "With all the chaos and turmoil, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish 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 "disheartening."

Internal Reactions

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

In contrast, 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 stricter border controls next week.

An insider was reported stating, "The Labour government should not misinterpret the message from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are losing Muslim voters over immigration is just plain wrong."