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The Labour party’s civil war over the Gorton and Denton byelection has intensified after Andy Burnham accused Downing Street sources of lying about his decision to apply to stand in the Manchester seat.
The Manchester mayor was reacting to suggestions by unnamed Keir Starmer allies that he had been told “in no uncertain terms” that any request to the NEC committee to put his name forward for the byelection would be refused.
Responding to a post on X by ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston, which suggested sources close to the PM therefore saw Burnham’s move to stand as an explicit attempt to destabilise Starmer, Burnham wrote: “This is simply untrue.” Peston then sent a follow-up message saying a second source had backed up Burnham’s version of events, adding that Burnham was “seeking an urgent call with No 10 about the briefing”.
About 50 Labour MPs signed a letter objecting to the decision to block Burnham from standing in the 26 February byelection, warning the prime minister that the move was a “real gift” to Reform UK.
Starmer attempted to calm the waters on Monday, saying that while Burnham was “doing a great job”, he and his fellow officers on the NEC had decided to not allow Burnham to quit as mayor of Greater Manchester so as to avoid triggering a costly mayoral election. “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,” he said.
The housing secretary, Steve Reed, said on Tuesday that critics were “entitled to their view”, but NEC officers had voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the move.
Meanwhile, the battle for Gorton and Denton – a seat Labour won with a little over 50% of the vote in 2024 – has begun in earnest. Reform UK was mocked by rival MPs on Tuesday, after one of the party’s MPs, Lee Anderson, posted a picture on social media of himself and activists campaigning for the seat in the wrong constituency.
Noting that Anderson was standing outside a hotel in her neighbouring Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner told the Daily Mirror: “Farage’s Reform can’t even find the Gorton and Denton constituency on a map. Perhaps it’s because they’re too busy filling their party full of former Tories who failed the country.”
Speculation about who will contest the seat for Labour continues, with interviews continuing on Tuesday and a selection expected on Saturday. On Monday night, the Labour leader of Manchester city council, Bev Craig, ruled herself out of the running, while – according to Roch Valley Radio – the leader of Bury council, Eamonn O’Brien, had applied to be selected.
As well as a muscular campaign from Reform, Labour will also face competition from a re-energised Green party, with officials arguing they have a real chance of victory after Burnham was barred from the race. Local party members are yet to decide on a candidate, but Hannah Spencer, leader of the Green group on Trafford council, is likely to be in the running.
