Andy Burnham seeks permission to stand in Gorton and Denton by-election

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has asked Labour’s national executive committee for permission to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

In a statement on social media, Burnham said: “I have today written to the Chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee seeking permission to enter the selection process for a candidate for the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.”

I have today written to the Chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee seeking permission to enter the selection process for a candidate for the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.

Read my letter here.👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/TwKgADsuSB

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) January 24, 2026

In his letter to Anna Turley, the party’s chair, Burnham said: “This has been a difficult decision for me to make.

“Nobody wanted or expected a by-election at this time and I have given careful thought to what is in the best interests of our party and the city-region I represent. With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that this is the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for and what we have built in this city over many generations.

“With your permission to stand, I would run a hopeful and unifying campaign with broad appeal to voters, focusing on the positivity around what we have achieved, whilst at the same time being honest about the alienation people feel from politics.

“I left Westminster almost ten years ago because I felt it too and had a strong sense that it wasn’t working in our part of the world. In my current job, I have tried to pioneer a different way of doing things with some success. But I have learnt in my nine years as Mayor that Manchester won’t be able to be everything it should be without similar changes at a national level. This is why I feel the need to go back.

“The progress already made on rail renationalisation, bus re-regulation, the housing crisis and devolution is truly impressive. My role in returning would be to use my experience to help [the government] to go further and faster, as well as communicate the difference it is making. I would be there to support the work of the government, not undermine it, and I have passed on this assurance to the Prime Minister.

“I can assure the NEC that, if allowed to stand and successful in the by-election, I would give my all to the subsequent Greater Manchester Mayoral by-election. We have such a powerful story to tell of the change Greater Manchester Labour has brought to the city-region and I am confident we can win and take that success story into a new era.”

Burnham confirmed his plans in a social post just seconds after a 5pm deadline for mayors to seek permission came to a close.

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Warnings against NEC ‘stitch up’

The announcement comes amid a raft of MPs, including members of the Cabinet, calling for the NEC to allow for members to have the choice of selecting Andy Burnham as the party’s candidate for the by-election.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Deputy Leader Lucy Powell, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner are all understood to have called on the NEC to allow local party members to have the option of selecting Burnham as the candidate.

A succession of backbench Labour MPs have echoed that view and warned against any “stitch up” of the selection process, including Tony Vaughan, Ian Byrne, Karl Turner, Kim Johnson, Beccy Cooper, Nadia Whittome, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Kate Osborne and Brian Leishman.

Speaking to LabourList following the announcement by Andy Burnham, NEC member Cat Arnold said: “As readers will know, choice of candidate for union, affiliate, party members is always key to me, as CLP rep at NEC.

“It is good news that one of our most popular figures in the Labour Party has thrown his hat in the ring for the Gorton and Denton by-election. Burnham has form on economics, transport and environment and would be a strong candidate.

“I wish him and any others coming forward the best of luck.”

Centre-left network Mainstream, a group supported by Andy Burnham, has launched a petition to the chair of the NEC Shabana Mahmood calling for local members in Gorton and Denton to “have the opportunity to select and elect the strongest possible Labour candidate to taker on Reform – with no qualified candidates excluded”.

Left-wing campaign group Momentum has also backed Burnham’s bid for the Labour candidacy and said: “Labour must not stop Andy Burham standing in this by-election. Blocking the candidate best placed to defeat Reform would suggest the leadership is determined to drive both party and country off a cliff-edge.”

‘Last thing we need in run-up to May elections’

However, Labour First political director Lucy Atkinson said: “I genuinely think it’s mad the idea we would roll the dice on not one but two by-elections that would be costly to both party and [the] taxpayer just for one man’s ego.

“This wouldn’t be ‘Starmer’s NEC’ protecting him, it would just be practical.”

East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Joani Reid said that the selection process for the by-election has now become a “energy-sapping distraction, which is why many of us would have probably preferred Andy Burnham stay out of it”.

“He’s [Burnham] not even halfway through his term as Mayor, and frankly Mayor of Manchester is a bigger job than being a backbench MP. So either he’s seeking a quieter life, or he’s on manoeuvres. If it’s the latter, it’s the last thing we need in the run-up to the May elections.”

Danny Beales, MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, also said that “now isn’t the time for Labour to turn inwards” and said: “The national interest must come before any personal political interest. We need to focus our resources on winning key council elections, such as those here in London, and on making the case for Labour in Wales and Scotland.”

Only a selection of the NEC will determine whether Burnham will be allowed to stand for election to Westminster, with LabourList understanding a meeting of the NEC subcommittee will take place sometime tomorrow morning.

More to follow.

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