Reverse Burnham ban, Gorton’s Labour activists tell Starmer

Party members say blocking Mayor of Greater Manchester from running will hand seat to Reform Daily Telegraph 27/01/26 Labour activists in Gorton and Denton have demanded Sir Keir Starmer reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham from standing for Parliament. Sir Keir and his allies have prevented Mr Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, from running in a by-election in the seat on Feb 26.

Seventeen members of Gorton and Denton’s local Labour party have written a letter to the Prime Minister accusing him of “playing” with their future and handing the seat to Reform UK. The letter, which will be sent on Tuesday, tells Sir Keir that the National Executive Committee (NEC), Labour’s ruling body, “should reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham and allow him and anyone else to stand”. The Gorton activists said their “future has been played by party figures in Westminster”. They write: Dear Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, and Shabana Mahmood MP, Chair of the NEC, As members of the Gorton and Denton Labour Party we've watched as our future has been played by party figures in Westminster. We didn't want any of this to happen, but now it has, all we want is a full voice and a say in who our candidate should be. Let the best come forward to represent our wonderful constituency and brilliant people. Let the brightest and most convincing campaigner be selected in what will be a nation defining by-election battle between Labour and Reform. Let Gorton and Denton not be the first domino in Greater Manchester to fall to Reform and instead the platform for the fight back against national populism. As post holders and activists from across our CLP we demand simply that we decide who our candidate should be. In that way our campaigners will come out and work tirelessly for their candidate in their campaign to win and vanquish Reform. This means the NEC should reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham and allow him and anyone else to stand before us and make their case to represent our seat at this unprecedented political moment. Reverse Burnham ban, Gorton’s Labour activists tell Starmer Party members say blocking Mayor of Greater Manchester from running will hand seat to Reform Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, speaking on Monday at the launch of Class Ceiling at The Whitworth in Manchester Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, speaking on Monday at the launch of Class Ceiling at The Whitworth in ManchesterCredit: James Speakman/PA Dominic Penna, Senior Political Correspondent.Robert White. 27 January 2026 11:14am GMT Labour activists in Gorton and Denton have demanded Sir Keir Starmer reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham from standing for Parliament. Sir Keir and his allies have prevented Mr Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, from running in a by-election in the seat on Feb 26. Seventeen members of Gorton and Denton’s local Labour party have written a letter to the Prime Minister accusing him of “playing” with their future and handing the seat to Reform UK. The letter, which will be sent on Tuesday, tells Sir Keir that the National Executive Committee (NEC), Labour’s ruling body, “should reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham and allow him and anyone else to stand”. The Gorton activists said their “future has been played by party figures in Westminster”. They write: Their intervention is the latest sign of a growing civil war in Labour after more than 50 backbench MPs signed a separate letter this week objecting to the decision – suggesting the scale of dissent is now closer to the 81 MPs needed to trigger any future leadership challenge. Advertisement Sir Keir has been accused of weakness over the decision, with critics suggesting he was seeking to avoid a leadership challenge from the so-called King of the North. The by-election was triggered after Andrew Gwynne, Gorton and Denton’s previous MP, announced he would stand down amid an ongoing ethics investigation into leaked abusive WhatsApp messages, which led to his suspension last year. On Saturday, Mr Burnham announced his intention to run for the seat, which is covered by his mayoralty. He promised that he would not “undermine” the Prime Minister’s leadership, despite suggestions he could challenge Sir Keir, instead saying he would help the Government “go further and faster, as well as communicate the difference it is making”. However, the decision to let him run was ultimately in the hands of the NEC because Mr Burnham is a current Labour mayor. The NEC is Labour’s ruling body and its 10-strong panel of officers is responsible for making key internal decisions. It is chaired by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary. Sir Keir sits on its panel. The role of the NEC is to oversee the running of the party nationally and set its “strategic direction”. This includes helping to select candidates for elections. The NEC panel voted to block Mr Burnham by eight to one, with Sir Keir among those opting to stop the mayor standing for Parliament. Ms Mahmood chose to abstain, while only Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, voted in favour of allowing Mr Burnham to run. The mayor said he was “disappointed” following the row and suggested Labour would now lose the by-election. On Tuesday morning, allies of Sir Keir accused Mr Burnham of trying to deliberately destabilise the Prime Minister. They claimed that the mayor had proceeded with his application to stand in the by-election despite being informed “in no uncertain terms” beforehand that it would be rejected. By submitting his request to stand in the seat regardless, the Prime Minister’s allies claimed, Mr Burnham was choosing to weaken Sir Keir and “sow dissent”. Later, Mr Burnham hit out at the accusations, writing on X: “This is simply untrue.” Reverse Burnham ban, Gorton’s Labour activists tell Starmer Party members say blocking Mayor of Greater Manchester from running will hand seat to Reform Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, speaking on Monday at the launch of Class Ceiling at The Whitworth in Manchester Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, speaking on Monday at the launch of Class Ceiling at The Whitworth in ManchesterCredit: James Speakman/PA Dominic Penna, Senior Political Correspondent.Robert White. 27 January 2026 11:14am GMT Labour activists in Gorton and Denton have demanded Sir Keir Starmer reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham from standing for Parliament. Sir Keir and his allies have prevented Mr Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, from running in a by-election in the seat on Feb 26. Seventeen members of Gorton and Denton’s local Labour party have written a letter to the Prime Minister accusing him of “playing” with their future and handing the seat to Reform UK. The letter, which will be sent on Tuesday, tells Sir Keir that the National Executive Committee (NEC), Labour’s ruling body, “should reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham and allow him and anyone else to stand”. The Gorton activists said their “future has been played by party figures in Westminster”. They write: Their intervention is the latest sign of a growing civil war in Labour after more than 50 backbench MPs signed a separate letter this week objecting to the decision – suggesting the scale of dissent is now closer to the 81 MPs needed to trigger any future leadership challenge. Sir Keir has been accused of weakness over the decision, with critics suggesting he was seeking to avoid a leadership challenge from the so-called King of the North. The by-election was triggered after Andrew Gwynne, Gorton and Denton’s previous MP, announced he would stand down amid an ongoing ethics investigation into leaked abusive WhatsApp messages, which led to his suspension last year. On Saturday, Mr Burnham announced his intention to run for the seat, which is covered by his mayoralty. He promised that he would not “undermine” the Prime Minister’s leadership, despite suggestions he could challenge Sir Keir, instead saying he would help the Government “go further and faster, as well as communicate the difference it is making”. However, the decision to let him run was ultimately in the hands of the NEC because Mr Burnham is a current Labour mayor. The NEC is Labour’s ruling body and its 10-strong panel of officers is responsible for making key internal decisions. It is chaired by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary. Sir Keir sits on its panel. The role of the NEC is to oversee the running of the party nationally and set its “strategic direction”. This includes helping to select candidates for elections. The NEC panel voted to block Mr Burnham by eight to one, with Sir Keir among those opting to stop the mayor standing for Parliament. Ms Mahmood chose to abstain, while only Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, voted in favour of allowing Mr Burnham to run. The mayor said he was “disappointed” following the row and suggested Labour would now lose the by-election. On Tuesday morning, allies of Sir Keir accused Mr Burnham of trying to deliberately destabilise the Prime Minister. They claimed that the mayor had proceeded with his application to stand in the by-election despite being informed “in no uncertain terms” beforehand that it would be rejected. By submitting his request to stand in the seat regardless, the Prime Minister’s allies claimed, Mr Burnham was choosing to weaken Sir Keir and “sow dissent”. Later, Mr Burnham hit out at the accusations, writing on X: “This is simply untrue.” Earlier this month, a seat-by-seat poll showed Gorton and Denton would probably fall to Reform at the next general election. The Greens are also confident about their chances there. On Monday, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, admitted Reform would have found it “very difficult” to beat Labour in Gorton and Denton had Mr Burnham stood as a candidate. Making a direct plea to Sir Keir and Ms Mahmood, the activists – who included three councillors – concluded: “As post-holders and activists from across our [Constituency Labour Party], we demand simply that we decide who our candidate should be. “In that way, our campaigners will come out and work tirelessly for their candidate in the campaign to win and vanquish Reform. “This means the NEC should reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham and allow him and anyone else to stand before us and make their case to represent our seat at this unprecedented political moment.” Responding to the letter, Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said: “Local party members should be allowed to pick their candidate. That’s democracy.” Clive Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, added: “Members of a party that calls itself democratic are asking for something very simple – democracy.” Mr Lewis, who suggested in November that he would give up his seat for Mr Burnham, added: “When your main political opponent is authoritarian, that isn’t optional. It’s foundational. Labour can win this by-election, but only if it lives by the values it claims to defend.” More than 50 MPs call for Starmer to reverse decision The letter adds to mounting pressure on Sir Keir to force the NEC to reverse its decision. More than 50 MPs have written to Sir Keir calling for an emergency NEC meeting, insisting there was “no legitimate reason” to block Mr Burnham. To challenge Sir Keir as leader, Mr Burnham would first have to become an MP. He would then need to be nominated by 20 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party – equivalent to 81 MPs. The move has provoked a revolt amongst Left-wing MPs and trade unions, some of whom have warned that the Prime Minister was more at risk of a leadership coup as a result of the Burnham saga. The names of those who signed the letter to the Prime Minister are not expected to be made public, but they are being circulated among senior Labour figures. The Telegraph understands that Lucy Powell, the Labour deputy leader, and Angela Rayner, her predecessor, do not plan to add their names to the letter, meaning two prominent supporters of Mr Burnham’s bid to run are not willing to challenge the NEC decision. Blocking Burnham ‘nothing’ to do with leadership On Monday, Sir Keir defended the decision to block Mr Burnham, suggesting the multi-million pound cost to taxpayers of a mayoral election in addition to a by-election could not be justified. He said: “We have really important elections already across England for local councils, very important elections in Wales for the Government there, and very important elections in Scotland for the Scottish Government that will affect millions of people. “We’re out campaigning on the cost of living, and they’re very important elections. We need all of our focus on those elections. Andy Burnham’s doing a great job as the Mayor of Manchester, but having an election for the Mayor of Manchester when it’s not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have, that we must fight and win. “And resources, whether that’s money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don’t have to have. And that was the basis of the NEC decision.” On Monday night, it emerged that Mr Burnham’s allies want to fill the NEC with soft-Left members to loosen Downing Street’s grip on party control. A total of 16 of the 39 spots on the NEC are up for election this summer, creating an opportunity for Mr Burnham and his allies to ease his path back to Westminster. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary, claimed the decision had “absolutely nothing” to do with the Labour leadership despite constant speculation about Sir Keir’s future. He insisted Mr Burnham was doing an “outstanding” job as Greater Manchester mayor but that he should honour his “commitment” to serve a four-year term. Labour sources pointed to Mr Burnham’s remarks on Monday that he would “get on with the job”, and the party’s own statement defending its decision to block him.