Greater Manchester Mayor and former Leigh MP Andy Burnham blocked by Labour from by-election
Former Leigh MP Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Sources close to Labour's National Executive Committee said that there had been a "very clear majority" against allowing Mr Burnham from applying for selection in the seat due to concerns about the cost of fighting a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester.
Mr Burnham was the MP for Leigh for 16 years from 2001 until 2017 when he became the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
He launched a campaign in 2015 to become the leader of the Labour Party but came second to Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Burnham wrote a letter to the NEC to ask for permission to stand in the election.
In the letter, he said he had “given careful thought to what is in the best interests of our party and the city region I represent” following the announcement of a by-election “nobody wanted or expected”.
He argued there was now “a direct threat to everything Greater Manchester has always been about from a brand of politics which seeks to pit people against each other”.
He added: “I see this by-election as the front line of that fight for the Manchester way and I feel I owe it to a city which has given me so much to lead it from the front, despite the risks involved.”
But allies of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer feared Burnham - a former cabinet minister - could mount a leadership challenge, should he return to Westminster.
The decision was made by a 10-strong sub-group of the NEC, chaired by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Sunday morning.
Blocking Mr Burnham is likely to provoke anger from some parts of the Labour Party after several senior figures called for local members to have the final say on whether he should stand.
They included deputy leader Lucy Powell , herself an NEC member, and Cabinet minister Ed Miliband , who had both told a conference in London on Saturday that the decision should be left to members.
The by-election was triggered on Thursday after the sitting MP, Andrew Gwynne, announced his resignation from Parliament on health grounds.
In his letter to the NEC, Mr Burnham said he would “give my all” in any mayoral by-election, adding he was “confident” Labour could win.