Burnham’s next steps laid out as he will appear before four committees in wake of by-election block

Monday, 26 January 2026 17:41

By Ethan Davies

Andy Burnham at Manchester Pride 2025. Credit: David Murphy

Andy Burnham will appear before four committees in the days after he tried to become the Gorton and Denton MP.

The mayor is in the spotlight after applying for permission to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election on Saturday (January 24), triggered by Andrew Gwynne’s resignation on Thursday (January 22). The law says mayors like Burnham cannot also be MPs, so he would have needed to resign as mayor to stand.

However, his bid was blocked by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which voted eight to one against his application yesterday (January 25), something Burnham called ‘disappointing’ on social media.

He has largely declined to comment further on the episode, aside from encouraging Labour MPs to back the party’s candidate in the by-election, but Burnham will have to do plenty of talking in the next few days.

That’s because he is due to appear at several high-profile Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) meetings, thrusting the mayor further into the spotlight.

His first meeting is on Wednesday morning (January 28), when he is due to present his proposals for raising council taxes to pay for the fire service at the GMCA’s police, fire and crime panel. That afternoon, he will be grilled by the GMCA’s overview and scrutiny committee which will examine similar plans to raise mayoral tax.

On Thursday (January 29), he is set to chair the Bee Network committee discussing active travel trends and how to improve road safety. He will also chair a full GMCA meeting in Stockport on Friday (January 30), he is expected to face Greater Manchester’s 10 council leaders in a packed agenda where tax rises should be approved, as should the creation of three new ‘mayoral development corporations’ to regenerate Bolton, Oldham, Stalybridge, and Ashton-under-Lyne.

After criticising the way he was informed of the NEC decision on Sunday, Burnham struck a more conciliatory tone as the working week began. Asked if had a message for Labour MPs, he said: “There’s a by-election about to happen. We need your help. The Greater Manchester way is built on togetherness. We don’t ever hear about a politics that’s about pitting people one from another.

“This is a place that is succeeding because of its commitment to people of all backgrounds working together for the common good.  That is the Greater Manchester way and we want to preserve it.

“So come and join us. Let’s get out there and celebrate what we’ve achieved in Greater Manchester in the by-election.”