Minister defends move, saying that a mayoral campaign in Greater Manchester would have ‘a substantial and disproportionate impact’ on party resources
Andy Burnham has suggested that Labour is more likely to lose the Gorton and Denton byelection now that it has blocked him from being the candidate.
He implied this last night in a reply on social media to a post from Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer’s biographer and communications director for Ed Miliband when he was Labour leader. Baldwin said:
I’ve always liked @AndyBurnhamGM but the prospect of him returning to Westminster has already added to inward-looking psychodrama that does no one any good. And an unnecessary by-election for Mayor of Manchester might well have resulted in long term damage to his reputation too.
And Burnham replied:
