Exclusive: Labour Bosses Urged To Block Andy Burnham's Bid To Be An MP Again
Labour Party bosses have been urged to block Andy Burnham’s bid to become an MP again after a possible route back to Westminster opened up for the Manchester mayor.
The Times reported that Andrew Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, is to announce he is quitting parliament on health grounds, triggering a by-election in the seat.
He was suspended by Labour in February last year over offensive messages he sent to a WhatsApp group and is currently on long-term sick leave.
Burnham, who quit Westminster in 2017, has made little secret of his desire to become an MP again, and has never ruled out making a third Labour leadership bid.
He has also been a frequent critic of Keir Starmer’s government.
It was reported last month that he will throw his hat into the ring to be Labour’s candidate in Gwynne’s seat if it became vacant.
Under Labour rules, the short-list of candidates would be drawn up by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), who would be under massive pressure from Burnham’s supporters to put him on it.
Local party officials in Gorton and Denton would then have the final say on who their candidate is, with the by-election expected to be held on the same day as local elections across the UK on May 7.
However, senior Labour figures have told HuffPost UK that the NEC should block any Burnham comeback bid, with one saying there was “zero” chance of them short-listing him.
One MP said: “If Andy Burnham thinks this is his opportunity to somehow come to the rescue of the Labour government, he needs to have another think.
“What we don’t need is the Labour Party to descend into a circus of a leadership contest, which would string out over the next few months.
“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of hardworking councillors seeking election in May and we need to focus on supporting them and getting them re-elected.”
A senior Labour source accused Burnham of being “focused on Andy, not the Labour Party”.
“If he was the candidate, he’d trigger a massive by election in Greater Manchester that would absorb every penny and every activist the party can muster at a point when we have elections in Wales, Scotland and the rest of the country that everyone is focussed on winning,” the source said.
“It’d be massively selfish of him to implode the national campaign, purely off the self belief that he’s the answer to every challenge the government faces.
“There’s a huge part of the party faithful that are fed up of the constant noise coming out of the Burnham camp, when we’re trying to stay united, win elections and deliver our manifesto.”
A party insider said: “The NEC should block him. A by-election for mayor is very expensive and completely unnecessary.”
But Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright “it would be a democratic outrage” if Burnham was blocked from standing.
“In the event that a by-election takes place, as an affiliated union, the FBU will not stand by and allow senior Labour politicians like Andy to be carved out of this process,” he said.
“Our union will fiercely resist any attempts to stitch up the selection. It’s vital that there is a full and open democratic procedure to choose Labour’s candidate to fight this by-election. Anything less would be unacceptable.”
An ally of Burnham said: “We’ve not been in touch with anyone and aren’t aware of what is developing. We’re not in any loop.”