Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing as the Labour candidate for the Gorton and Denton constituency.

This comes days after the resignation of Andrew Gwynne on health grounds, with his suspension from the Labour Party triggering a by-election.

On Saturday 24 January, Andy Burnham announced via X he had written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), seeking permission to enter the selection process for a candidate.

However, on Sunday morning the NEC confirmed that Mr. Burnham’s request has been denied, citing campaign resource limitations.
In a statement, the Labour Party said the NEC believed that triggering an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester Mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of the local elections and the elections to the
Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd in May.

Reaction has been largely negative, with Labour MPs expressing disappointment and anger at the decision.
On X, former shadow chancellor and MP for Hayes & Harlington John McDonnell criticised the decision referring directly to PM Sir Keir Starmer as displaying ‘cowardice’ in the face of a potential leadership challenge.

Elsewhere, MP for Liverpool West Derby Ian Bryne has accused Starmer and his inner circle of being prepared to ‘gift’ Gorton and Denton to Reform if it means ‘protecting their own factional interests’.

It comes as rumours of a potential bid for the leadership of the Labour party from Andy Burnham have been circulating since late 2025.
In September, Burnham told colleagues at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool not to “underestimate the peril the party is in”, a remark widely interpreted by the media as a criticism of the prime minister and the party leadership.

Since coming to power in July 2024, Sir Keir’s premiership has been consistently dogged by poor approval ratings in the face of increased support for Reform and recently growing favourability for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
In the most recent polling published by YouGov on 29 Dec 2025, 73% of voters believed the PM was doing badly - with the remaining 27% believing he was doing well or were unsure.

A date is yet to formally be confirmed for the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election.