Andy Burnham allowed to stand for Labour in key by-election

Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleThe Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham will be included in Labour’s candidate selection process for the Makerfield by-election, the party said.A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee has today given permission to Andy Burnham to stand in the candidate selection process in the forthcoming by-election for the Makerfield constituency.”Wes Streeting has backed him to win a by-election that could return him to Westminster to challenge Sir Keir’s premiership, but is expected t fight against the mayor in a possible Labour leadership contest.Josh Simons, a former ally of Sir Keir who was recently forced to resign as a minister, stunned colleagues by stepping down as an MP on Thursday to allow Mr Burnham to stand in his Makerfield seat, paving the way for a challenge to the prime minister.Speaking at the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) conference on Friday, Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell said there was going to be "absolutely no attempt" to block Mr Burnham from standing as the Labour candidate in the by-election.In fullStarmer latest: Burnham cleared to stand in Makerfield by-election paving way for leadership challengeMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

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