KEIR Starmer faces a full-blown Labour civil war after his allies blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton & Denton by-election.
The Manchester Mayor has been barred from even entering the race by a key panel of Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee.
The NEC met this morning and voted 8-1 against letting him stand – with deputy leader Lucy Powell the only member backing him.
And the bombshell result is set to detonate fury across the Labour party.
MPs are expected to accuse the Prime Minister of a shameless stitch-up to stop a future leadership rival.
Mr Burnham announced yesterday he wanted to throw his hat in the ring.
It was a move that would have sent him back to Westminster and put him in striking distance of the top job – but he needed NEC approval.
And Starmer loyalists shut him out, saying his run would trigger a pricey mayoral election and risk handing Manchester to Reform UK.
He had the backing of several senior figures, including Ms Powell, Sadiq Khan and Ed Miliband who called him a “massive asset in Parliament”.
Labour’s chosen candidate in Gorton & Denton must now take on a surging Reform UK.
And many in the party fear that if Labour loses the seat after the PM personally blocked Mr Burnham, the fallout will be politically devastating.
Yesterday, Manchester’s mayor announced he was seeking approval from the National Executive Committee to stand as an MP in a by-election.
Mr Burnham – who previously served as an MP for Leigh, in Greater Manchester, for 16 years – said he felt “the need to go back” to Parliament.
But his potential return to the Commons was seen as a fresh threat to the PM – who is already feeling the squeeze from rivals in his own party.
Angela Rayner publicly backed Mr Burnham’s bid – which would have allowed him to challenge Sir Keir for Labour leader.
Allies of Mr Burnham have long been secretly plotting to bring him back and mount a leadership bid.
By MARTINA BET, Political Correspondent
SIR Keir Starmer was boxed in from the start.
Allowing Andy Burnham to stand would have amounted to signing his own political death warrant, giving the Manchester Mayor a direct route back to Westminster and a platform to challenge for the leadership.
Blocking him was always the least-damaging option for a leader already fighting sliding polls and grumbling backbenchers.
But that doesn’t make it safe. Shutting out one of Labour’s biggest Northern beasts is a huge gamble that risks detonating a fresh round of internal warfare.
Burnham’s supporters will see this as a naked act of self-preservation and proof Starmer is nervous about rivals circling.
The decision also hands Burnham a new grievance and a bigger following – not less.
Meanwhile, Reform UK will seize every scrap of Labour infighting to hammer the PM in the North.
And if Labour now loses Gorton & Denton, Starmer owns every inch of the fallout.
He may have avoided one threat today, but he may have blown the party apart in the process.
The seat in Greater Manchester was opened up after shamed ex-minister Andrew Gwynne resigned on health grounds.
His decision to step down – off the back of reported offensive WhatsApp messages – provided the perfect opportunity for Mr Burnham’s return.
Loyalists of the Prime Minister were split over whether they should try to block the Manchester Mayor from becoming an MP.
And there will be fresh fears of Labour infighting following the NEC’s decision to block Mr Burnham.
The Manchester mayor announced his audacious bid to return to Parliament in a statement yesterday afternoon.
It read: “I have come to the conclusion that this is the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for.
“In my current job, I have tried to pioneer a different way of doing things with some success.
“But I have learnt in my nine years as Mayor that Manchester won’t be able to be everything it should without similar changes at a national level.
“This is why I feel the need to go back.”
Some allies of Sir Keir Starmer were so desperate to stop Mr Burnham becoming an MP, they suggested Gary Neville should stand instead.
Sources say it illustrated how keen Downing Street was to stop the Manchester mayor, with some on the NEC also vowing to block his return.
But speaking at a Labour Unions event yesterday, Angela Rayner threw her support behind her close pal.
She said: “We’ve got the fight of our lives on and therefore we should be pulling together and we should put our best players on the pitch.”
“This about someone having the right to stand. How do we encourage people to stand – well we don’t block people.”
Burnham’s letter to the Chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee in full
I write to seek the permission of the NEC to enter the process for the selection of Labour’s candidate for the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.
This has been a difficult decision for me to make and I thought it would help members of the NEC if I shared my reasoning in reaching it.
Of course, nobody wanted or expected a by-election at this time and I have given careful thought to what is in the best interests of our Party and the city-region I represent. With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that this is the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for and what we have built in this city over many generations.
Manchester inspires because it is a place that has always stood for the equality of all people, right back to the cotton workers of 1862 who
refused to handle slave-picked cotton. In my time as Mayor, I have drawn strength from that tradition and worked hard to unite people. We are famous for our togetherness and, from that foundation, we are achieving huge success as the UK’s fastest-growing city region.
And yet, there is now a direct threat to everything Greater Manchester has always been about from a brand of politics which seeks to pit people against each other. It brings with it a poison we should not let enter our city-region. I see this by-election as the frontline of that fight for the Manchester Way and I feel I owe it to a city which has given me so much to lead it from the front, despite the risks involved.
With your permission to stand, I would run a hopeful and unifying campaign with broad appeal to voters, focusing on the positivity around what we have achieved, whilst at the same time being honest about the alienation people feel from politics.
I left Westminster almost 10 years ago because I felt it too and had a strong sense that it wasn’t working for people in our part of the world.
In my current job, I have tried to pioneer a different way of doing things with some success. But I have learnt in my nine years as Mayor that Manchester won’t be able to be everything it should be without similar changes at a national level. This is why I feel the need to go back.
When so many people in a city-region like this are struggling to afford the daily basics, they are surely right to question why the country gave away control of them in the first place, in whose interests it is run and why no government of any colour has corrected these things for them.
I applaud this Government for being the first in a long time to face up to them and put people before profit. The progress already made on rail renationalisation, bus re-regulation, the housing crisis and devolution is truly impressive. My role in returning would be to use my experience to help it to go further and faster, as well as communicate the difference it is making. I would be there to support the work of the Government, not undermine it, and I have passed on this assurance to the Prime Minister.
I can assure the NEC that, if allowed to stand and successful in the by- election, I would give my all to the subsequent Greater Manchester Mayoral by-election. We have such a powerful story to tell of the change Greater Manchester Labour has brought to the city-region and I am confident we can win and take that success story into a new era.
I hope this makes my reasoning clear and I attach the required form with further information. Out of respect for this internal process, I will not be giving any further public statements until it is concluded beyond the release of this letter. I am sad at the circumstances in which all this has come about and, while he clearly made mistakes, I want to recognise the dedicated service of Andrew Gwynne to this area over many years.
Yours sincerely
Andy Burnhan
RT HON ANDY BURNHAM
Her replacement, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell, also weighed in on the debate.
Speaking at the Fabian Society conference in London, she said the decision to stand in the by-election “should be up to Andy and the local members”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband also welcomed the bid.
Former party leader Mr Miliband remarked the Manchester mayor would be “a massive asset” in Parliament.
But one MP branded Mr Burnham’s bid “shameless” while another warned: “This is a no-win situation for Keir.”
A minister said some Labour MPs hope to use him as a “Trojan horse” to drag the party to the hard left.
And a senior Labour Party source said: “Andy just wants to get a seat in Westminster to get the big job.”
