Around 50 Labour MPs have signed a letter objecting to the decision to block Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing in the upcoming Gorton & Denton by-election.
The letter, which has been sent to Sir Keir Starmer, warned the decision to block Mr Burnham represents a “real gift” to Reform UK and suggested the Greater Manchester Mayor may be Labour’s “very best chance at winning” the vacant seat.
Labour MPs also suggested there was “no legitimate reason” to block Burnham and asked for Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to “re-evaluate”.
However, Sir Keir has defended the decision to block the Greater Manchester Mayor from seeking a return to Westminster.
“Resources, whether that’s money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don’t have to have,” the Prime Minister said earlier. “And that was the basis of the NEC decision.”
The names of those who have signed the letter are not expected to be made public, though they are being communicated to the party leadership.
Following the decision to block his candidacy, Mr Burnham said: “I’ve said what I needed to say and here I am back in my job.
“A full focus on my job as mayor of Greater Manchester.”
Sir Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have exchanged barbs ahead of the Labour Party Conference | PA
Meanwhile, Labour activists in Gorton & Denton have also put pressure on Sir Keir to reverse his decision to block Mr Burnham from running in the upcoming by-election.
Seventeen members of the local Gorton & Denton Labour Party penned a letter to the Prime Minister, accusing him of “playing” with their future and handing the once-safe seat to Reform UK.
In the letter, the group of Labour activists wrote: “As members of the Gorton & Denton Labour party we’ve watched as our future has been played by party figures in Westminster.
“We didn’t want any of this to happen, but now it has, all we want is a full voice and a say in who our candidate should be.
Sir Keir Starmer is also facing a backlash from local Labour activists
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“Let the best come forward to represent our wonderful constituency and brilliant people.
“Let the brightest and most convincing campaigner be selected in what will be a nation-defining by-election battle between Labour and Reform.
“Let Gorton and Denton not be the first domino in Greater Manchester to fall to Reform and instead the platform for the fight back against national populism.
“As post holders and activists from across our CLP we demand simply that we decide who our candidate should be.
Andrew Gwynne announced he was stepping down last week | GETTY
“In that way our campaigners will come out and work tirelessly for their candidate in their campaign to win and vanquish Reform.
“This means the NEC should reverse the decision to block Andy Burnham and allow him and anyone else to stand before us and make their case to represent our seat at this unprecedented political moment.”
Voters in Gorton & Denton will go to the polls on February 26 after ex-Health Minister Andrew Gwynne resigned as the local MP over health concerns.
Mr Gwynne, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2005, was sacked by Sir Keir after being embroiled in a WhatsApp controversy surrounding a group chat called ‘Trigger Me Timbers’.
Reform UK was campaigning in Greater Manchester over the weekend
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Announcing his resignation, Mr Gwynne said: “It has been the honour of my life to have been an elected representative for almost exactly three decades, representing my home community firstly as a Denton West Councillor on Tameside Council and then in the House of Commons as MP for Denton and Reddish and more recently for Gorton and Denton.”
However, Labour insiders have grown increasingly cautious about Sir Keir’s chances of holding onto the Manchester constituency.
“Realistically, we know that we’re going to lose,” a senior Government source told The Times.
Another Labour source insisted the Prime Minister is “not writing the seat off” but needed to be “quick out of the blocks” to position Labour as the principal challenger to Reform.