Andy Burnham Would 'Probably' Have Won the Recent Byelection, States Labour Number Two

Labour's deputy leader has suggested that Andy Burnham would have won the recent Manchester byelection, as she called for her party to leverage the popular Greater Manchester mayor.

A Surprise Victory for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, a local Green councillor, a community tradesperson, became the party's fifth MP on Friday. This occurred in an area that had elected 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 block Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.

In an interview with 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 gone after the seat in the same way that they did."

Powell was the only member of Labour's top decision-making body to vote in favour of allowing Burnham to stand, with eight others, including leader Keir Starmer, voting against.

Accepting Responsibility

However, she told the BBC she accepted "collective responsibility" for the ruling, citing concern about necessitating a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

Powell also emphasized that her party needed to learn from the reasons for Burnham's widespread popularity in the region. She said people "see in him someone who is on their side, someone who is implementing those Labour values and Labour policies."

"It is essential we draw on that, make use of Andy Burnham, but also learn from it 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, "With all the chaos and turmoil, 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."

Party Response

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

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is set to warn against the party shifting leftward in response to the defeat. This comes as she introduces legislation for tougher immigration measures next week.

A source close to the Home Secretary was reported stating, "The party should not learn the wrong lessons from its recent byelection loss. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is just plain wrong."