Andy Burnham’s blocked attempt to stand in Labour’s Gorton and Denton by-election has sparked fresh internal tension, with one Labour MP likening the Greater Manchester mayor to a divisive former Manchester United letdown.
Burnham had been expected by some in the party to make a high-profile return to Westminster, but Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) has blocked him from standing despite frustration among MPs and ministers who believe local members should have been given the chance to pick their candidate.
In the aftermath, MP chatter has begun to swirl around how Burnham is viewed inside (and outside) the party, with one source using a Paul Pogba comparison as a shorthand for a figure seen as high-profile, politically potent, but divisive in the eyes of Labour’s central leadership.
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The intervention has fuelled claims of mounting in-party squabbling, with some Labour figures arguing it is a major risk to block a recognised northern heavyweight from contesting a difficult by-election — particularly at a time when the party is consistently trailing Reform UK in national opinion polls.
In a post on X, The Sun’s political correspondent Noa Hoffman said an unnamed Labour MP told her: “I see Lucy Powell and others talking about Burnham like Haaland or a super sub. He’s more like Paul Pogba – talent is there but massive ego, and goes missing when it matters most.”
Others have been more supportive. One senior Labour source who backed Burnham’s candidacy told the BBC: “They’re gambling the PM’s whole premiership on winning a very hard by-election without their best candidate. It is madness.”
Burnham, as a directly elected mayor, was required to seek NEC approval to stand, with concerns raised internally about the financial and organisational impact of triggering a replacement mayoral election.
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It would also be costly for the taxpayer, with the last Greater Manchester mayoral election costing around £4.7m.
The decision was taken by 10 members of the NEC, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who told the BBC on Sunday that allowing elected mayors to run as candidates in parliamentary by-elections had “organisational implications” for the party.
With Burnham blocked, attention now turns to what the episode means for Labour’s grip on key northern battlegrounds — and for Burnham’s own political future, as one of the party’s most prominent regional figures finds himself at the centre of a rapidly escalating internal row.