Andy Burnham has launched a scathing attack on Labour’s campaigning approach, describing it as “bankruptcy”, a week after the party lost the previously safe seat of Gorton and Denton in a byelection. The Greater Manchester mayor used a speech at the British Library in London to criticise the party’s reliance on clipboard-wielding canvassers targeting known Labour supporters, which he said prevented it from connecting with non-Labour voters and other progressive parties.
Burnham, a former MP and long-time rival to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, said the byelection result revealed “the full depth of the chasm between people and Westminster politics”. He was blocked from standing as Labour’s candidate in Gorton and Denton; his ally, deputy leader Lucy Powell, has said he would have won. The seat was won by the Green Party, with Reform UK coming second and Labour third.
In his speech, Burnham also highlighted polling by More in Common which found most people think the cost of living crisis will never end, calling it “code red for Westminster politics”. He said that change in the political system and culture is “desperately needed”. The mayor remained silent when asked about allegations of “family voting” irregularities, with the event organiser ruling the question out of order.
Burnham attacked the UK government for refusing to devolve more power to regions, saying Whitehall and Westminster no longer want to “share growth” with the north of England. He outlined his vision of “Manchesterism”, which he described as “the opposite of Westminsterism”, and expressed frustration at “the resistance of the system to free us up more”.
