Posted on 01/31/2026 12:16:48 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
A row erupted Sunday within Britain’s governing Labour Party after the ambitious mayor of Manchester was prevented from trying to re-enter Parliament at a special election in the city, with critics claiming Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not want to see a potentially dangerous rival back in the House of Commons.
Andy Burnham, who has been in charge of the Greater Manchester region since 2017 and has expressed interest in being Labour leader in the future, made a request to the party’s governing committee on Saturday to stand as the candidate in the upcoming election for the Gorton and Denton constituency.
The request stoked speculation that Burnham wants to be in place in Parliament for a possible challenge to Starmer’s leadership if a raft of elections this May — Britain’s equivalent to the midterms — go as badly as many in Labour are fearing.
If current opinion polls are any guide, Labour is expected to lose Wales for the first time since the legislature was created in 1999, fall way short of reclaiming power in Scotland and get battered in local elections in England.
Other parties, including the anti-immigration Reform U.K. and the Greens, have been the main beneficiaries of Labour’s apparent drop in support.
Burnham, 56, voiced his disappointment at the decision to block him in a post on X and his concerns about “its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.”
He said his “full focus” will be on his current job and defend “everything we have built” over many years.
“I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that,” he said. “We are stronger together and let’s stay that way.”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Hey, democracy is a fine thing, as long as only certain people are allowed to play the game. Voters tend to make bad choices, so it’s helpful when the Ruling Class steer them in the proper direction.
A lot of the drop in the support of Labour comes from those who don’t think Labour is far enough to the Left.
If you can’t beat ‘em, ban ‘em.
Reform isn’t benefiting from Labor’s collapse, it is benefitting from Tory’s collapse.
That's the German way.
“Perhaps some of you here are unable to forgive me because I eradicated the Marxist Party. But my friends: I also eradicated all the other parties.”
-Adolf Hitler (1933)
But it won't matter. Labour has until 2029 to find a way to "win" in the next General Election.
The Germans make them die mysteriously.
Germany's far-right AfD suffers series of candidate deaths ahead of local vote
I’ve always liked that word “row” which makes me picture people clawing at each other’s hair and clothes, punching them and kicking them as they fall.
Breaking now.
Parliament row.
Shot across bow.
Rival makes vow.
“Britain’s equivalent to the midterms”
Not really. The May elections are for some local councils plus the devolved national assemblies only. No Westminster parliamentary seats are involved.
no Westminster Parliament seats....other than this Runcorn by-election [=special election], which is caused by the resignation of the sitting member after a criminal conviction.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.