Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing as an MP in the Gorton and Denton by-election due to concerns about the cost of fighting a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester.
Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) made the decision on Sunday morning via a 10-strong sub-group, chaired by home secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Several senior figures had initially called for local members to have the final say on whether the Greater Manchester mayor should stand. Deputy leader Lucy Powell, an NEC member, and cabinet minister Ed Miliband both told a conference in London on Saturday that the decision should be left to members.
Mr Burnham has long been seen as a potential rival to Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, with rumours floating last year that he would return to Westminster and pose a challenge against the prime minister.
Sources in the NEC said there had been a “very clear majority” against allowing Mr Burnham to apply for selection in the seat, with the party insisting he was “doing a great job as mayor of Greater Manchester”.
What has Labour said?
Labour confirmed the decision to reject the Greater Manchester mayor in a statement, insisting they were motivated to avoid “an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor”.
In a statement, the party said: “Directly elected mayors and police and crime commissioners must seek the express permission of Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, before seeking nomination as a Labour candidate for the Westminster parliament in accordance with Chapter 5, Clause IV, 2 of the Labour Party Rule Book. This rule was put in place to avoid the party incurring unnecessary costs of running two simultaneous political campaigns.
“Yesterday Andy Burnham sought such permission from the NEC to stand in the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, which would have led to a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester. The NEC has decided not to grant Andy Burnham permission to stand.”
The group explained that it would be better to focus resources on upcoming local elections, in which Reform UK poses a major risk to Labour seats, despite the party’s confidence of retaining the mayoralty in Greater Manchester.
It added: “The NEC believes that causing an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources before the local elections and elections to the Scottish parliament and Welsh Senedd in May. Although the party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour’s control of Greater Manchester at any risk.
“Andy Burnham is doing a great job as mayor of Greater Manchester. We believe it is in the best interests of the party to avoid an unnecessary mayoral election which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources that are better spent tackling the cost of living crisis.
“We look forward to fighting and winning the upcoming by-election in Gorton and Denton and the positive campaign ahead which will be firmly focused on tackling the cost of living and bringing investment to the local area.”
What are Labour MPs saying?
Mr Burnham has long been seen as a leadership rival to Sir Keir, with speculation last year that he might make a bid to return to Westminster. His return to parliament had support from energy secretary Ed Miliband, who described him as “a massive asset”, and reportedly Angela Rayner too.
Labour MP Richard Burgon called for an “emergency NEC meeting” as he accused the party leadership of being prepared to lose a by-election to protect “factional interests”.
Mr Burgon, who is secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, said: “Keir Starmer and his clique have shown they’re prepared to lose Gorton and Denton to Reform – just to protect narrow factional interests.
“It’s weak leadership – and will only deepen the crisis the party is in. There should now be an emergency NEC meeting to resolve this mess.”
Former cabinet minister Louise Haigh said the decision was “incredibly disappointing” and called for the NEC to “change course and make the right decision”.
She told PA: “Otherwise I think we’ll all come to regret this.”
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Business secretary Steve Reed defended the decision to block the mayor’s candidacy in Gorton and Denton by pointing out that Mr Burnham has two more years to serve as mayor.
“Voters don’t like elections that come mid-term. People voted in Greater Manchester overwhelmingly for Andy Burnham to be their mayor two years ago, for a four-year term,” he told the BBC.
“In a democracy, politicians are elected to serve a term. The mayor of Greater Manchester was elected for a four-year term. He’s halfway through that term now.
“So we’re not going to go back and ask the people of Greater Manchester, over two million of them who are entitled to vote, to elect somebody else to complete the next two [years], because we can select a different candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election, and we will make the case for the Labour government.”
