Labour blocking my MP bid was hard to take, says Burnham

Andy Burnham has said it was "hard" to take Labour's decision to block him from standing as the party's candidate in a forthcoming parliamentary by-election.

The Greater Manchester mayor told the BBC he put his name forward to stand in Gorton and Denton as he believed he was "probably in a better position than anybody to fight back" against Labour's opponents, including Reform UK.

But Burnham said he accepted the decision made by Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) and ruled out standing as an independent candidate.

The NEC cited the "disproportionate" cost to the party of a mayoral election to replace Burnham when it blocked his bid to stand as an MP.

Burnham, who has been viewed as a potential leadership rival to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, told BBC Radio Manchester: "It's hard when something like that happens, it's really disappointing."

He added: "What I was offering the party, I think, was an alternative path to the one that the party is now on.

"What I was saying to them was that I think, without being arrogant about it, because of what I've contributed to building in Greater Manchester, I was in a strong position to fight back this different type of politics that is trying to come in and trying to win our council seats and come into Greater Manchester in a big way.

"I believed I was probably in a better position than anybody to fight back against that."

Burnham said he had a "good conversation" with Sir Keir after he was blocked from standing before criticising briefings against him, adding "anybody paid by the public purse does not get licence to lie".

He said: "In the aftermath of all of this, I'm not going to be sort of bitter and I'm going to be out there campaigning in the by-election but I am going to call that one thing out.

"I have been 30 years in the Labour Party, it is a hard decision for me to take as I agonised over it but I believed I was making it in the best interests of Greater Manchester."

Labour won Gorton and Denton in 2024 with a 13,000 majority but could face a challenge to retain the seat, which is being targeted by Reform and the Green Party.