'Cowardly S**t': Labour MPs Fume Over Decision To Block Andy Burnham's Bid To Return To Parliament

Labour MPs are furious at the party’s ruling body for blocking Andy Burnham’s bid to return to parliament.

He threw his hat into the ring for the Gorton and Denton by-election on Saturday after Andrew Gwynne stepped down.

But, as the directly elected mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham had to seek approval from the National Executive Committee (NEC) to be considered as a Labour candidate.

Eight people out of the 10 NEC members voted against allowing him to go for it on Sunday.

Only one voted for him – deputy party leader Lucy Powell – while another abstained – home secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Burnham is often seen as a challenger to Keir Starmer and allies feared that his presence in Westminster may have destabilised the prime minister’s government.

The Labour Party also issued a statement, saying allowing Burnham to run would have triggered an “unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor”.

It claimed 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”.

It added: “Although the party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour’s control of Greater Manchester at any risk. ”

But Labour MPs quickly poured scorn on the decision.

“What a fucking cowardly bunch of nonsense,” one MP told HuffPost UK, noting that plenty of colleagues will feel the same. “Cowardly shit,” they added.

“It feels like they’d rather lose the by-election than have someone who stands half a chance at winning it,” an insider claimed.

“But it won’t just be team Keir that will have made sure it’s blocked… it’ll be other leadership hopefuls like Wes,” they speculated. “Indirectly of course. It’s only Angela that was gracious enough to show support.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, also wrote on X: “Message to Keir: Do not underestimate the depth of anger people will feel about this disgusting decision. If you think it strengthens you I tell you it will simply hasten your demise. You could have shown magnanimous leadership but instead it’s cowardice.”

MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, Jon Trickett, wrote: “Strong leaders don’t hide from talent, they make common cause.”

MP for Poole, Neil Duncan-Jordan, also said: “The strength of the labour movement lies in its pluralist broad church. The authoritarian factionalism of the labour right is tearing us apart. This must be reversed. Our members expect us to come together to beat Reform. This stitch-up puts control before country.

“Those who have orchestrated this outcome are happy to destroy the Labour Party because of their deep seated factionalism. We’ve seen this before when some individuals were actively working against us winning. We’re rapidly losing all sense of reason.”

Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, wrote: “Keir Starmer and his clique have shown they’re prepared to lose Gorton and Denton to Reform – just to protect narrow factional interests. It’s weak leadership - and will only deepen the crisis the party is in. There should now be an emergency NEC meeting to resolve this mess.”

But some figures believe it was the right move.

MP for Rugby, John Slinger, told HuffPost UK: “The quick and clear decision of Labour’s NEC means we can move on from the damaging, introspection & psychodrama of the last week. 

“We need to pull together behind whoever is selected in the by-election. As a united team we can beat Reform and then focus on vital elections in May.”

A senior Labour source told HuffPost UK it was “inevitable and the right decision”.

Meanwhile, former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke told Times Radio: “The decision that’s being taken today isn’t really about blocking Andy Burnham.

“It’s about should you have a situation where a directly elected mayor is allowed to leave his post with another two or three years of his office to go?

“I think they should not allow him to leave his post as mayor of Manchester, because that will require a new mayor of Manchester, hopefully Labour in those circumstances, but possibly from other parties.”

He added: “I think taking him out of that approach, which him being in Parliament would, would be a bad mistake.”

Another MP just shrugged off the criticism over the blocking of Burnham, saying: “London Labour Party government latest.”