Andy Burnham has laid into Keir Starmer’s Labour in a scathing statement after the mayor of Greater Manchester was denied the chance to run as an MP.
On Saturday (24 January), Burnham had requested to run as MP in the Gorton and Denton constituency, after a by-election was called following the vacation of the position by Labour’s Andrew Gwynne.
Burnham announced his request to Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to run in the by-election, saying he had “come to the conclusion that this is the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for”.
READ NEXT: Reform claim ‘injustice’ as councillor defects from party to join Tories
However, yesterday (25 January) the ‘King of the North’ received the damning news that the NEC had rejected his request to run in the by-election, claiming he even found out after the media did.
Whether or not Burnham was keeping an eye on his emails is disputed, with an insider Labour source saying that this was not true, as per ITV’s Paul Brand.
However, newer information suggests Burnham’s account may indeed be the correct one.
Regardless, Burnham went on to dig out his party on social media, voicing his anger at how the party is “being run these days”.
He wrote: “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 support 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.
“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 blocking Andy Burnham from applying for MP selection is a move likely to frustrate backbenchers and challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s authority.
The NEC is chaired by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and of course includes Keir Starmer.
This decision will likely provoke backlash from MPs in support of Mr Burnham, and will contradict other Labour ministers who wanted local members to be allowed to decide the result.
Allies of the prime minister feared that allowing Mr Burnham back into Westminster could threaten Sir Keir’s leadership.
There is also concern that the move may have handed the seat to Reform UK, with polling showing that Labour would lose the seat to Nigel Farage’s party unless Burnham was the candidate.
However, some bookies actually have the Greens as favourites to win the North-West seat, in what would be a major coup for Zack Polanski’s party.