Mailwatch(ed) Forum

The NEC could, and in my view should, now legitimately reject Burnham’s request to be permitted to bid for selection in the Gorton & Denton parliamentary by-election.

The party rule that says that any incumbent mayor seeking to resign their position in order to try to stand for election to another representative body must obtain permission from the party’s governing body in order to do so has sound reasons for its existence.

The NEC’s role here is to consider the effects of the incumbent Greater Manchester mayor abandoning his post two years early not only on the (possibly dubious) prospects, in the present political climate, of Labour being able to retain the Manchester mayoralty at the by-election that would have to follow, but also the financial impact of having to fight what could legtimately be viewed as a completely unnecessary by-election on the party.

The NEC will no doubt also consider the viability and prospects of success in the Gorton & Denton by-election with Burnham as the candidate. Again, the corollary of the positive advantages of having Burnham as the candidate in the parliamentary by-election must logically be the negative aspects of the absence of Burnham as a candidate to defend his mayoralty at the by-election for the mayoralty.

This an important, and serious, decision for Labour’s governing body. For all the feverish talk of “blocking” Burnham, the wailing about a “denial of democracy”, or the poor “optics” that denying Burnham’s bid would allegedly entail, that is merely so much nonsense.

I don’t doubt that NEC members will have an eye on the politics of the situation, but I sincerely hope that they will mind their work, and come to the right decision, which is that Burnham cannot simply resign an important post like Mancester mayor on a whim. - whether his intention is to enable him to challenge the Prime Minister or not .

It's a right mess with no good outcomes for the party.

Don’t think he can be blocked really. People hate stitch ups. Hopefully he gets elected, and has to do a spell in the trenches. He has talent for presentation, which hasn’t been great from the government generally. Put him to work on that, let him earn his stripes.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Sat Jan 24, 2026 6:24 pm It's a right mess with no good outcomes for the party.

Depends how Burnham behaves. If he behaves well and puts his talents to good use, there’s the potential for a stronger top team. He didn’t arse about under Brown/ Ed. He’s capable of doing that again.

As the country's under threat from Moscow and Washington, the ambitions of Andy Burnham are small beer not worth getting excited about. If he wants to be the No1 statesman he better start acting the part if he enters the Commons. As Tubby suggests on past evidence, he isn't Boris Johnson and will knuckle down.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Sat Jan 24, 2026 6:57 pm Don’t think he can be blocked really. People hate stitch ups. Hopefully he gets elected, and has to do a spell in the trenches. He has talent for presentation, which hasn’t been great from the government generally. Put him to work on that, let him earn his stripes.

I feel like letting him stand is the least bad option, but I'm not happy with how he's caused a huge problem for the party by standing.

I'm rather hoping this will end with humiliation for him: losing the seat to Reform would be regrettable but it'd shut the Starmer critics up. Labour has enough of a legitimacy problem with the media and it seems, some of its own supporters so to sow the seeds of its own destruction - again - via Burnham seems like utter lunacy to me.

After a week when Starmer was starting to win back a bit of good press we get this totally unnecessary and divisive no-win situation, with Burnham timing his announcement for maximum publicity. That's the mark of a populist and certainly not someone who has the Labour party at heart.

Of course, no one has actually articulated what PM Burnham would do and how it would be different to what is being done now.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Sat Jan 24, 2026 10:19 pm Of course, no one has actually articulated what PM Burnham would do and how it would be different to what is being done now.

One thing not only the right are very much guilty of: politics as vibes.