FORMER Culcheth resident Andy 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 the directly elected mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham, who grew up in the Culcheth are aof Warrington, had to get approval from Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), after he applied to be a candidate yesterday, 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”.
Mr Burnham, a former minister, was widely seen as a potential leadership challenger to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer should he return to Westminster.
The Greater Manchester seat is vacant after former Labour minister Andrew Gwynne stood down on Friday as an MP on health grounds.
The move to block Mr Burnham has infuriated some Labour MPs and is also likely to anger some ministers who said local party members should have had the option of choosing the Greater Manchester mayor as the candidate.
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.
It is understood that the Prime Minister was among those who voted to block Burnham from standing.
In an interview in 2022, Mr Burnham didn’t rule out making a return to Westminster, although he did admit to feeling like a “fish out of water” during his time as an MP.
