Labour blocks Andy Burnham from standing in Gorton and Denton by-election

Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

NEC sources told the Press Association 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.

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.

Labour has confirmed that its National Executive Committee has blocked Andy Burnham from standing in Gorton and Denton, saying it wanted to avoid "an unnecessary by-election" for the Greater Manchester mayoralty.

In a statement, the party said:

"Directly-elected mayors and police and crime commissioners must seek the express permission of Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee, before seeking nomination as a Labour candidate for the Westminster Parliament in accordance with Chapter 5, Clause IV, 2 of the Labour Party Rule Book. This rule was put in place to avoid the party incurring unnecessary costs of running two simultaneous political campaigns.

"Yesterday Andy Burnham sought such permission from the NEC to stand in the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election, which would have led to a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester. The NEC has decided not to grant Andy Burnham permission to stand.

"The NEC believes that causing an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources before the local elections and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd in May. Although the party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour's control of Greater Manchester at any risk.

"Andy Burnham is doing a great job as mayor of Greater Manchester. We believe it is in the best interests of the party to avoid an unnecessary mayoral election which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers' money and resources that are better spent tackling the cost of living crisis.

"We look forward to fighting and winning the upcoming by-election in Gorton and Denton and the positive campaign ahead which will be firmly focused on tackling the cost of living and bringing investment to the local area."

Andy Burnham released a statement yesterday (Saturday 24th January 2026) revealing why he wanted to return to Parliament.

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