Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell has appeared to back Andy Burnham to stand in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.
She said the Mayor of Greater Manchester is “incredibly popular” and it should be “up to Andy and the local members” to decide whether he should quit his role and run as an MP.
Burnham has until 5pm on Saturday to decide if he would like to stand, giving himself the chance to win a parliamentary seat, potentially posing a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer.
Starmer loyalists have moved to block his candidacy over concerns he could challenge the Prime Minister while those on the left of the party have said there should not be a “London stitch-up”.
Late on Friday, Labour published the timetable for applications, giving Burnham, as a mayor, until 5pm on Saturday to make up his mind. Other candidates will have until Sunday evening to apply.
It comes after Andrew Gwynne announced he would resign as an MP on health grounds on Thursday, triggering a by-election in his constituency.
The Prime Minister’s allies have been lobbying Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) – the body which selects party candidates – to block Burnham.
But on Friday there was a counter-rally from the party’s union affiliates and local councillors who want a viable soft-left candidate available to replace Starmer in the event of a leadership election.
Powell was the latest to weigh in on Saturday, telling the Fabian Society’s annual conference in London that the decision “should be up to Andy and the local members”.
Asked whether she thinks Labour’s NEC should allow Burnham to stand, she said: “He has got to make up his own mind what he wants to do and he has got until five o’clock today.”
“Andy Burnham is incredibly popular in my part of the world.”
She added: “It should be up to Andy and the local members who will select their candidate, and our members are very discerning.”
It is understood Rayner, the former deputy prime minister who was forced to resign last year for not paying enough tax on a flat she bought in Hove, is also set to declare her support for Burnham at Labour’s North West regional conference on Saturday.
Powell, MP for Manchester Central, warned that the contest could be “the most consequential by-election” of the current Parliament, adding that she did not want to see Reform UK or the Green Party “get a foothold into my city or into a northern city which they’ve not yet done before”.
Although Gwynne retained the seat in 2024 with 51 per cent of the vote, the collapse in Labour’s polling position means Gorton and Denton could be a tougher fight against both Reform and the Greens.
“In that context I always want to see the very best candidate, the person who can most help Labour win in that very difficult by-election, I want to see the best candidates come forward and be able to come forward and help us win,” Powell told the Fabien Society audience.
Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, and Streeting are also due to speak later on Saturday.
Burnham, who is widely believed to have ambitions to lead the party, is yet to comment on whether he intends to stand.
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