Andy Burnham's bid to return as MP blocked by Labour's ruling body

Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing as a candidate for an upcoming parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton by Labour's ruling body.

As a directly elected mayor, Burnham had to get approval from Labour's national executive committee (NEC), after he applied to be a candidate on Saturday.

Some NEC members were concerned about an expensive mayoral election to replace Burnham, and allies of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer feared he could mount a leadership challenge, should he return to Westminster.

The move is likely to infuriate Labour MPs and some ministers who said local party members should have had the option of choosing the Greater Manchester mayor as the candidate.

It is a big political gamble by allies of the prime minister and risks inflaming tensions within the party, which is consistently trailing Reform UK in national opinion polls.

One senior Labour source who had been supportive of Burnham's candidacy said: "They're gambling the PM's whole premiership on winning a very hard by-election without their best candidate. It is madness."

The decision was made by 10 members of the NEC, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and the on Sunday morning.

Earlier, she told the BBC allowing elected mayors to run as candidates in parliamentary by-elections had "organisational implications" for the party.

Several Labour sources had said the NEC could block Burnham's application on the grounds that a mayoral election would be expensive for the party.

It would also be costly for the taxpayer, with the last mayoral election costing around £4.7m.