Burnham blocked from standing in upcoming by-election

Burnham's Post on X | Graphic Credit: Shock News

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.

The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 8-1 against Burnham standing in the contest.

Because Burnham is a regional mayor, he required approval from Labour’s ruling body to stand for Westminster.

The party said that they blocked Burnham from standing in order to “avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources.”

Burnham said on X that he was “disappointed” by the decision. Other senior figures within the Labour Party have criticised the NEC’s decision, including MP for Leeds East, Richard Burgon, who accused the Labour leadership of being “prepared to lose Gorton and Denton to Reform- just to protect narrow factional interests.”

Many see Burnham as a potential rival to Prime Minister Kier Starmer, and some believe the NEC’s decision to block Burnham from running in the by-election was taken to protect the PM’s political future.

Whilst Burnham will not be standing for Parliament for now, this whole episode could well damage the Labour Party going forward. According to the Manchester Evening News, there are rumours of an internal civil war. Moreover, there are fears that removing Burnham- Labour’s most popular politician according to YouGov- from the ballot paper could result in a Reform victory in Gorton and Denton.

Candidates rumoured to be considering standing in the contest include Green Party Leader Zack Polanski, former Labour MP George Galloway, and Zia Yusuf, the current Head of Policy at Reform UK.

The by-election will be held later this year.