"My own judgment is that this was more about focus than about factionalism. If Burnham had been selected for the seat, he would have been obliged to give up his Greater Manchester mayoralty halfway through a four-year term, triggering a byelection there. A Labour statement on Sunday said this would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of the local elections and elections to the Scottish parliament and Welsh Senedd in May."
"The vote on Sunday by a sub-group of the NEC, including Starmer, has sparked an internal battle inside Labour, with a series of MPs and affiliated unions expressing anger at the decision. Burnham said he was disappointed, promising to support whoever was selected to fight the seat vacated last week by Andrew Gwynne. But in a later tweet on Sunday, he seemed to predict that Labour would now lose the byelection."
Labour's NEC blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton Westminster by-election to prevent distraction and avoid triggering a mayoral by-election. A sub-group including Keir Starmer made the decision, provoking anger from several MPs and affiliated unions. Burnham expressed disappointment and pledged to support the chosen candidate, then later tweeted he expected Labour to lose. Ministers argued that a mid-term mayoral resignation would impose substantial campaign resource demands ahead of local, Scottish and Welsh elections in May, and that party rules presume serving mayors need special permission to stand for parliament.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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