35 minutes agoShareSaveJoshua Nevett,Political reporterandChris Mason,Political editorShareSaveGetty ImagesAndy Burnham has been blocked from standing as a candidate for an upcoming parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton by Labour’s ruling body.As a directly elected mayor, Burnham had to get approval from Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), after he applied to be a candidate on Saturday.But Labour said the party had decided to deny Burnham permission to stand to “avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources that are better spent tackling the cost-of-living crisis”.But Burnham, a former minister, is widely seen as a potential leadership challenger to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer should he return to Westminster.The seat in Greater Manchester is vacant after former Labour minister Andrew Gwynne stood down on Friday as an MP on health grounds.The move to block Burnham has infuriated Labour MPs and is likely to anger some ministers who said local party members should have had the option of choosing the Greater Manchester mayor as the candidate.It is a big political gamble by allies of the prime minister and risks inflaming tensions within the party, which is consistently trailing Reform UK in national opinion polls.One senior Labour source who had been supportive of Burnham’s candidacy said: “They’re gambling the PM’s whole premiership on winning a very hard by-election without their best candidate. It is madness.”The decision was made by 10 members of the NEC, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, party chair Ellie Reeves and the prime minister himself on Sunday morning.NEC sources told the BBC the vote was 8-1 in favour of blocking Burnham’s candidacy.The prime minister was among those who voted to block Burnham from standing.Mahmood abstained as the chair, while Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell voted to allow him to stand.Labour sources have told the BBC that in the meeting, lots of concerns were raised about the costs of an election to replace Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor and the “prospect of a divisive campaign”.Sir Keir’s allies say Burnham is doing “a very good job” as mayor of Greater Manchester, arguing an election to replace him “would cost the party hundreds of thousands of pounds” and “cost the country millions of pounds during a cost-of-living crisis”.The prime minister’s supporters were worried Reform UK “would outspend us ten to one” during the by-election campaign.The argument those who blocked Burnham intend to make publicly is that during a period of geopolitics dominating the headlines and deep concerns about the cost of living at home, there would be no appetite in the country for a “return to political psychodramas of the Tory years”.There was “overwhelming support” in the meeting “for upholding clear Labour Party rules preventing mayors and PCCs standing in by-elections”, a source said.Earlier, Mahmood told the BBC allowing elected mayors to run as candidates in parliamentary by-elections had “organisational implications” for the party.A mayoral election in Greater Manchester could also be costly for the taxpayer, with the last one costing about £4.7m.In a statement, the Labour Party said: “The NEC believes that causing an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of the local elections and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd in May.”Although the Party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour’s control of Greater Manchester at any risk.”Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said the NEC had decided against Burnham’s candidacy “because of the huge inconvenience to two million voters across Greater Manchester of having a by-election for a new mayor”.”I know that’s disappointing for Andy,” Reed said. “But it’s good news for the people of Greater Manchester because he’s been doi …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn35 minutes agoShareSaveJoshua Nevett,Political reporterandChris Mason,Political editorShareSaveGetty ImagesAndy Burnham has been blocked from standing as a candidate for an upcoming parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton by Labour’s ruling body.As a directly elected mayor, Burnham had to get approval from Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), after he applied to be a candidate on Saturday.But Labour said the party had decided to deny Burnham permission to stand to “avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources that are better spent tackling the cost-of-living crisis”.But Burnham, a former minister, is widely seen as a potential leadership challenger to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer should he return to Westminster.The seat in Greater Manchester is vacant after former Labour minister Andrew Gwynne stood down on Friday as an MP on health grounds.The move to block Burnham has infuriated Labour MPs and is likely to anger some ministers who said local party members should have had the option of choosing the Greater Manchester mayor as the candidate.It is a big political gamble by allies of the prime minister and risks inflaming tensions within the party, which is consistently trailing Reform UK in national opinion polls.One senior Labour source who had been supportive of Burnham’s candidacy said: “They’re gambling the PM’s whole premiership on winning a very hard by-election without their best candidate. It is madness.”The decision was made by 10 members of the NEC, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, party chair Ellie Reeves and the prime minister himself on Sunday morning.NEC sources told the BBC the vote was 8-1 in favour of blocking Burnham’s candidacy.The prime minister was among those who voted to block Burnham from standing.Mahmood abstained as the chair, while Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell voted to allow him to stand.Labour sources have told the BBC that in the meeting, lots of concerns were raised about the costs of an election to replace Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor and the “prospect of a divisive campaign”.Sir Keir’s allies say Burnham is doing “a very good job” as mayor of Greater Manchester, arguing an election to replace him “would cost the party hundreds of thousands of pounds” and “cost the country millions of pounds during a cost-of-living crisis”.The prime minister’s supporters were worried Reform UK “would outspend us ten to one” during the by-election campaign.The argument those who blocked Burnham intend to make publicly is that during a period of geopolitics dominating the headlines and deep concerns about the cost of living at home, there would be no appetite in the country for a “return to political psychodramas of the Tory years”.There was “overwhelming support” in the meeting “for upholding clear Labour Party rules preventing mayors and PCCs standing in by-elections”, a source said.Earlier, Mahmood told the BBC allowing elected mayors to run as candidates in parliamentary by-elections had “organisational implications” for the party.A mayoral election in Greater Manchester could also be costly for the taxpayer, with the last one costing about £4.7m.In a statement, the Labour Party said: “The NEC believes that causing an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of the local elections and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd in May.”Although the Party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour’s control of Greater Manchester at any risk.”Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said the NEC had decided against Burnham’s candidacy “because of the huge inconvenience to two million voters across Greater Manchester of having a by-election for a new mayor”.”I know that’s disappointing for Andy,” Reed said. “But it’s good news for the people of Greater Manchester because he’s been doi …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
