Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, made the news yesterday when she called for Andy Burnham to be allowed to stand for parliament. In January Burnham was blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election by Labour’s National Executive Committee. NEC officers said that Burnham going to Westminster would create the unnecessary expense of a Greater Manchester borough by-election (they were also keen to stop a potential leadership challenger from going to parliament).
In an interview with House magazine, Nandy has said she disagreed with the NEC’s decision in January and would have voted to allow Burnham to stay if she had been on the sub-group that decided his fate. “I think he’s a great asset to the party. And I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I’ll support him in anything he wants to do,” she said.
The common view is that Starmer, who led the charge against Burnham at the NEC in January, would not be politically powerful enough to block him for a second time if a seat were to leave. Since the bloc, he has lost his chief of staff and been scarred by further revelations about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Labor came third in Gorton and Denton. Cabinet ministers now speak freely that the bloc is a mistake.
But if that’s the case, it still hasn’t sunk into the NEC. I spoke to NEC members last night about Nandy’s comments and the position on Burnham was the same: they don’t want a mayoral election in Manchester. “Circumstances haven’t changed,” I’m told. One NEC member said Burnham’s best option if he wanted a seat would simply be to resign as mayor pending a by-election – he would not have to seek NEC permission to do so – and then stand as a Labor candidate.. But he would still have to account for such a move before an NEC selection panel, and they would not look kindly on it.
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However, it would remove the strongest argument for blocking Burnham, as the mayoral election will have already been triggered. Instead, NEC members would have to find other reasons for blocking a former cabinet minister who was good enough to be a three-time winner for Labor in Greater Manchester. Then we can get into a more shaky argument about the gender balance of the PLP – already followed by Burnham’s opponents last year – which will be widely attacked as an excuse rather than a reason.
The stalemate continues. But if “circumstances” change, and they could change very soon after the May election, Burnham could make a second run for the seat.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; get it every morning by subscribing to Substack here
(Further reading: All shock)
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