Burnham enters race for Labour by-election selection (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Now, breaking news here in the world of politics in the UK. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham says that he has applied to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election. The Labour Party gave Mr Burnham until 5pm local time, so just around 13 minutes ago, to make his decision. And what we are showing is confirmation from Andy Burnham himself, confirming that I have written to the chair of Labour's National Executive Committee, seeking permission to enter the selection process for a candidate for the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by-election. Of course, this is just the beginning. He needs to be selected. There are many hurdles before he can potentially be selected, but we were waiting. That confirmation, that deadline that was provided by the NEC, the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, that 5 o'clock deadline going, and Andy Burnham confirming via social media that he has indeed applied for that selection process. Like I say, numerous hurdles that he needs to go through. Emma Burnell is the... ...the editor of Labour List, a news website which supports but is independent of the Labour Party. So, Emma, we've got confirmation. He is putting his hat into the ring. But, like I say, numerous caveats. There are still so many hurdles that he needs to go through, not least to get selected. So, just talk us through what the next process will be for Andy Burnham.

[00:01:49] Speaker 2: So, the next step is to be approved as... ...as a candidate, to be eligible as a candidate, and that will come down to a subcommittee of Labour's National Executive Committee, the NEC, as it's known by shorthand, which is the body that oversees the rules and the management of the Labour Party. Parts of that are elected, parts are appointed by the Trade Union, and parts appointed by the Prime Minister. And it's understood that this subcommittee is quite heavily supportive of the Prime Minister, so were he to, or people around him, to want to put their thumb on the scale on this, they could probably sway that subcommittee.

[00:02:33] Speaker 1: Well, given that we've had people like the former Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, saying that she does not want Andy Burnham to be blocked from standing, could that sway the NEC?

[00:02:45] Speaker 2: I think there's a lot that could sway the NEC. I think, frankly, the politics of it is what should sway. If Burnham is blocked, it will just be seen as a stitch-up. Let's just call it what it is. It will be a stitch-up. And, you know, there are good arguments that decide that we might want Burnham not to run, to stay as Mayor of Greater Manchester, might make. But I've spoken to lots of Labour members, not least I'm at the Fabian Society's New Year conference today, and absolutely nobody... Nobody is buying that that would be the reason, even if they agree that it's a reasonable reason. So everyone thinks that this is about the internal politics of the Labour Party, were Andy Burnham to be blocked. And then if that were the case, then that just makes Andy Burnham, you know, the Labour Party's core martyr. Any discomfort, any disquiet within the party, and he's the lightning rod for it. So if I were advising... If I were advising Keir Starmer, I would say, you know what, you may think that having him in Parliament will be painful, but having him blocked from Parliament by you will be more painful.

[00:04:05] Speaker 1: And so this idea that potentially one way of possibly blocking him is by creating an all-women shortlist, because the majority of the party's MPs are men, is that feasible? And just to add to that, this idea that there would then have to be... a mayoral election for Greater Manchester, and that would be expensive. Is that a feasible way of blocking Andy Burnham?

[00:04:34] Speaker 2: Well, as I say, lots of people have talked about the need for the mayoral by-election, and that that being a reason to block him. And I think that were the party membership in a slightly less febrile mood, slightly more optimistic mood, then they might buy that argument. But they're not. No one I'm talking to is saying, yes, I think that's what this conversation is actually about. In terms of all-women shortlists, I want to be really clear. I absolutely fundamentally have supported all-women shortlists. I've done so for 20 years. I just... It's not a factional tool. You should not use something that should be non-factional and really positive and entirely about, you know, driving forward equalities within the party to play for... And I would say that no matter which faction was up and which was down, you know, this is... It's really important that something like this isn't seen simply as something that's used as a tool for something that was never invented to be.

[00:05:39] Speaker 1: It's a fascinating point and fascinating to just look at the machinations of the way the NEC works as well. But obviously, if he does get through all of those initial hurdles, he's got to win the election. And at the moment, majority of the Labour Party, the EU has a majority of just over 13,000. But given the way that reformer polling is, is there confidence that he could potentially win this?

[00:06:07] Speaker 2: Well, that's the other part of this discussion is I would say... Now, look, I've never lived further north than Tottenham, so I'm not going to claim deep insight into the politics of the North West on the ground. But if you look at the numbers, around what happened in each of the Manchester, three Manchester mayoralty elections that Andy Burnham has won, he is incredibly popular and he's popular across the region. And that includes in Tameside, which is where Gorton and Denton constituency resides. You know, he was winning very, very significant portions of the vote, outstripping the Labour vote. So if Labour are worried about potentially losing a by-election to reform and they want the candidate who could, best stop that from happening, then you've got to look at the guy who, in the local elections in which he ran, that covered that area, did better than the party generically.

[00:07:06] Speaker 1: OK, well, Emma, thank you very much for your speedy reaction there. Thank you for talking us through all the details. We haven't even spoken about the potential of a leadership contest. Labour list talking about Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting all would win. In a head-to-head leadership contest, but we haven't got time. Emma Burnell, editor of Labour List, thank you so, so much for that speedy reaction. Andy Burnham just confirming that he is, has applied to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election.