Should Andy Burnham be allowed to face as a Labour MP? Take our ballot and have your say
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was blocked from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election after a decision from Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee
Andy Burnham was blocked from running as an MP by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
After Andy Burnham was blocked from running as an MP, Keir Starmer has said the Greater Manchester Mayor is doing a “great job”, and letting him stand for a Westminster seat would “divert our resources” from May election campaigns.
Tensions rose within the Labour party after Mr Burnham was blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election, but the Prime Minister insisted the “battle of our times” was between Labour and Reform, rather than internal. He appealed to party members to come together as they prepare for local elections in spring, urging members and MPs to “line up together” to play their part in “a fight that matters hugely to the future of our country.”
Mr Burnham’s move to run in the Greater Manchester by-election was blocked by a group of 10 from Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), including Keir Starmer. Critics have accused Mr Starmer and his allies of blocking the move by Mr Burnham amid fears of a leadership challenge from the mayor, whose ambitions have been no secret.
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After his move to run as an MP was blocked, the Greater Manchester Mayor released a statement saying: “I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us. To whoever is Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full sport and I will be there whenever you need me.
“Tomorrow I return with full focus to my role as Mayor of GM, defending everything we have built in our city-region over many years. I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way.”
And in a feisty postscript, he added: “PS – The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days. You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something but sadly not.” Labour sources strenuously denied this, saying they attempted to contact him shortly after the meeting by phone and email.
Speaking to reporters during a health centre visit in Wimbledon with Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Starmer said: “We have really important elections already across England for local councils, very important elections in Wales for the government there, and very important elections in Scotland for the Scottish government that will affect millions of people. And we’re out campaigning on the cost of living, and they’re very important elections. We need al our focus on those elections.
“Andy Burnham’s doing a great job as the Mayor of Manchester, but having an election for the Mayor of Manchester when it’s not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have, that we must fight and win, and resources, whether that’s money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don’t have to have. And that was the basis of the NEC decision.”
Former cabinet minister and backbencher Louise Haigh said on Sunday that Labour’s ruling body should reverse its decision “otherwise I think we’ll all come to regret this”. Trade unions also criticised the decision, with the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) saying the party had “lost its way”, and the general secretary of Unison saying it was not the way “any democratic organisation should be run.”
When asked whether he had a message for a party where a rift seems to potentially be growing, he said Labour “must never lose sight” of what matters most to the public, namely the cost of living. He added: “The second thing I’d say is there is a fight, yes, there is a fight, but that fight is with Reform, and we all need to line up together to be in that fight, all playing our part. I think that everybody in the Labour Party, everybody who’s a Labour MP, wants to be in that fight, wants to fight alongside all their colleagues in a fight that matters hugely to the future of our country.”
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