A former Labour minister has refused to step aside to allow Andy Burnham back into the Commons in a bid to challenge the Prime Minister.
Andrew Gwynne, MP for Gorton & Denton, was previously believed to have been considering retiring from his position due to medical reasons, triggering a by-election that could have seen the Manchester mayor back in Downing Street.
In February, Mr Gwynne was suspended from the Labour Party after the Mail on Sunday exposed offensive WhatsApp messages in a group called Trigger Me Timbers.
In the group, the former Health Minister said he hoped a pensioner who didn't vote for Labour would die before the next election, while also making anti-Semitic slights and 'jokes' about a constituent being 'mown down' by a truck.
He later apologised for his 'badly misjudged comments', adding: 'I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken.'
