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

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

An Unexpected Result for the Greens

Overcoming a substantial 13,000-vote Labour majority from the last general election, Hannah Spencer, 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 finished second, just ahead of the official Labour contender, Angeliki Stogia.

Fresh Questions Over Candidate Decision

The surprise result has sparked fresh debate of the party's controversial decision to prevent Andy Burnham from standing in the seat last month.

In an interview with the BBC, Labour's deputy leader, Lucy Powell, remarked, "He likely could have held the seat. I think certainly the Greens wouldn't have targeted the seat in the same way 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 understood "collective responsibility" for the ruling, citing concern about triggering a mayoral byelection in Greater Manchester.

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

"We have to draw on that, leverage 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 returning to parliament. One ally said, "Given the current political climate, 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 prominent voice on Labour's left, called 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 the government proposes legislation for stricter border controls next week.

An insider was reported stating, "The party should not learn the wrong lessons from its electoral setback. The idea that we are alienating support over immigration is just plain wrong."