NEC’s move merely postpones rather than resolves questions about who can lead Labour’s fightback
It is a sign that the political deck of cards is stacked against you when the only good hand is one that was never really going to be dealt. And so it was with Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham.
In an ideal world for the prime minister, Andrew Gwynne’s announcement that he was stepping down from his Gorton and Denton seat would have been followed by Burnham saying he already had a job as Greater Manchester mayor and would sit this one out, thanks very much.
But given the inevitably of Burnham taking up a rare chance to get back into Westminster politics, Starmer was faced instead with two fairly terrible choices: block him, and be accused of partisan control-freakery; or allow the candidacy and put the matter in the hands of fate.
It is worth noting that if Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) had granted Burnham his wish, this would have just been the first step in the process: the mayor would have had to get the local party’s backing and actually win the seat before arriving in parliament as a shiny would-be heir apparent.
