Image source, Getty Images

Labour MP Andy McDonald has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live - he says the prime minister "should be embracing" Andy Burnham and "taking the opportunity to have the best players out there on the pitch".

"If we're going to exclude people from standing as candidates because they have ambitions of a higher office to deliver for this country, then I'm afraid the benches will be just about empty," he says.

McDonald says the decision over Burnham was made "by 10 people on a Zoom call, with one abstaining... is that how we're going to deploy our democracy?"

Is this about Starmer being strong or being weak?published at 08:20 GMT

08:20 GMT

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

The answer is both.

It is an assertion of strength organisationally. Burnham was blocked in a vote of eight to one, with the charge being led by a speech from Sir Keir Starmer himself.

That is a leader with the organisational self-confidence and political strength which allowed him to take control of the institutions of the Labour Party after he became leader six years ago.

But it is also a reflection of weakness politically.

Weakness because one of the big reasons for this decision is that allies of Starmer feared not only that if Burnham became an MP he would challenge for the leadership within months - but that he would win.

That is not the public argument being advanced.

Instead, Labour are talking about the expense, and the political risk, of a by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty - a position which has been contested three times with Labour never winning less than 63% of the vote.

If allies of Starmer genuinely fear that without a massive investment of campaign money and resources they might lose the mayoralty, that is a quite breathtaking admission of political weakness.

Image source, Getty Images

The Labour MP for Nottingham East, Nadia Whittome, has been speaking to the Today programme on Radio 4.

Whittome - a regular critic of the government - says that "blocking our only senior Labour politician with a net positive popularity rating...is putting petty factional manoeuvring and settling personal scores above winning elections".

She says that it "should be a free choice for members" in the Gorton and Denton constituency as to who represents them at the by-election.

Whittome will not be drawn on questions about leadership, but later adds: "What a lot of backbench MPs feel is that our loyalty is to the Labour Party - not to some of the people at the top of the Labour Party who are wrecking the party that we love."

Image source, Getty Images

We're now hearing from Lords member and former Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The "default position" is that if you are a mayor, you can't run for Parliament, Harman says.

She is "slightly baffled" why Andy Burnham made decision to try to run, she says, adding that it was "obvious" the NEC would support the decision taken by the party leader Keir Starmer.

Before acting, Burnham should have tried to find out whether the way would be cleared. If not, it would have been better to have never applied at all, Harman says.

Pushed on whether people want Starmer gone, Harman says leadership instability is a "symptom" of the problem, not the "cause".

The task now is for Starmer to "bring the party together", and to continue focusing on "improving lives of people in this country", she adds.

Douglas Alexander is now asked who in the Labour Party should take the blame, if Labour were to lose the by-election in Gorton and Denton.

"We shouldn't be making predictions before the by-election," he says, asking: "Why would we want to engage in post-match analysis before the ball has even been kicked?"

Labour is "fully committed" to winning the by-election, he adds, saying the party will "throw everything we have" to making sure the constituency gets the "best representation".

Also asked about Andy Burnham's criticism of the NEC decision leaking before he was informed, he says he "totally gets" why Burnham is frustrated.

Pressed on other leaks against Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Alexander says: "Sadly, that's all too often [what happens in] politics."

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Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander tells BBC Breakfast that blocking Burnham from the by-election has prevented "months of psychodrama".

Echoing the party message, the cabinet minister - who does not serve on Labour's NEC and did not have a vote on Sunday - says a contest to replace the mayor of Greater Manchester would "cost the party many hundreds of thousands of pounds and cost millions of pounds to the public".

Alexander says that the NEC's judgement was that a Manchester mayoral contest would "distract time, energy and focus from what are critical elections" in other places across the country where Labour are up against Reform UK.

Asked whether Keir Starmer is in a stronger or weaker position following the decision, Alexander says the PM "would have been criticised whatever decision was reached".

He adds that "frankly, if a different decision had been taken yesterday I think it's perfectly plausible that we would have had months of psychodrama: 'who's in, who's out, who's up, who's down in Westminster'.

"Honestly, I think that's the kind of conversations that the public absolutely hate."

Labour felt it was the least-bad option. It seems the decision will holdpublished at 07:47 GMT

07:47 GMT

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Sir Keir Starmer’s allies knew there would be a backlash to their decision to block Andy Burnham from returning to parliament. It would have been factored into their calculation that blocking him was, from their point of view, the least bad option.

And it is worth saying that while there is a big backlash this morning, it does not feel so overwhelming that Labour’s national executive committee is under pressure to reverse its ruling.

Yes, the backlash is far from confined to the usual suspects who object to many of Starmer’s decisions. Lots of MPs are unhappy, including privately some cabinet ministers.

But there are also plenty who are happy that he has been blocked. Some because they do not want the drama. Others because they want a different candidate to succeed Starmer whenever that time comes.

Burnham is clearly smarting. But he is not demanding that the decision by Labour high command is reversed.

It feels like the decision to block Burnham is going to hold - and that was not necessarily a given yesterday.

Labour's MPs are divided on Andy Burnham's future - with some backing the committee's decision to block, while others believe he should be given the chance to contest the by-election in Gorton.

Rachael Maskell MP tells Radio 4's Westminster Hour: "I do believe the ordinary members of Denton and Gorton should have the opportunity to choose the candidate of their choice, and to block Andy today was clearly the wrong decision."

Simon Opher, MP for Stroud, adds: "We sort of need Andy Burnham at the moment – I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re down in the polls and rumbling along the bottom and he’s an excellent communicator and an excellent campaigner."

East Hull MP Karl Turner says on social media the decision is "disappointing", adding that the parliamentary party is "very cross".

And John McDonnell, who served as shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, says Keir Starmer should not "underestimate the depth of anger people will feel about this disgusting decision".

However, some backed the NEC's vote.

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed says the result is "disappointing for Andy" but is "good news for the people of Greater Manchester because he's been doing such a good job as the mayor there".

John Slinger, the MP for Rugby, shares a message on X stating that "the quick and clear decision of Labour's NEC means that we can move on from the damaging introspection and psychodrama of the last week".

• We're due to hear from minister Douglas Alexander on the BBC soon - you can watch live at the top of the page.

Image source, ANDY RAIN/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

Labour says its national executive committee (NEC) believes Andy Burnham is "doing a great job as mayor of Greater Manchester", and that causing an "unnecessary mayoral election" would use “substantial amounts of taxpayers' money”.

NEC sources told the BBC the committee voted 8-1 in favour of blocking Burnham’s candidacy in a meeting on Sunday. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among those who voted against Burnham.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood abstained as the chair, while Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell voted to allow him to stand.

A Labour Party statement says: "The NEC believes that causing an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources ahead of the local elections and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd in May.

"Although the party would be confident of retaining the mayoralty, the NEC could not put Labour's control of Greater Manchester at any risk."

Labour sources have told the BBC that, in the meeting, concerns were raised about the costs of a mayoral election and the "prospect of a divisive campaign".

Burnham saga unlikely to be last act in the drama of Starmer's leadershippublished at 07:06 GMT

07:06 GMT

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, Peter Byrne/PA Wire

The other day, I compared the saga of Andy Burnham, his ambitions and the forthcoming by-election in Greater Manchester to a long and twisting marble run.

If, and it was a big if, the marble trundled all the way to the bottom, it was possible to imagine Burnham as prime minister before this year was out.

But, as I said then, it was also possible the marble would fly off the run spectacularly - which is precisely what has now happened.

In an exercise of brute power, which is simultaneously an illustration of how they perceive their own weakness, No 10 has scuppered Burnham's attempted run from Manchester to Westminster and perhaps on to Downing Street.

No 10 has calculated that it would rather weather a short-term storm than authorise a circus lasting weeks, then months, with Burnham as a by-election candidate and one question dominating: what's your plan if you become prime minister?

All this means that in the space of just a few months, those loyal to the prime minister have briefed heavily against Health Secretary Wes Streeting, whose ambitions they view with nervousness too - and have now blocked Andy Burnham from returning to Westminster.

Their critics, within the Labour Party and beyond, say both are acts of a weak prime minister seeking to cripple capable rivals who might, they argue, do a considerably better job than him in No 10.

This will likely be far from the last act this year in the drama of Sir Keir Starmer's leadership, and how much of a future it has.

• Read Chris Mason's full analysis here

In a message posted on X shortly before 6pm - hours after the NEC vote - Burnham said: "I am disappointed by today's NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.

"To whoever is Labour's candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support and I will be there whenever you need me."

He also claimed that "the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was".

That, he says, "tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days. You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something but sadly not."

Image source, Reuters

Alex Smith
Live editor

Image source, Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Wire

The Labour Party is divided this morning after its national executive committee (NEC) blocked Andy Burnham from standing as a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton.

Burnham – a former MP and the current mayor of Greater Manchester – is widely considered a potential leadership challenger to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, should he return to Westminster.

Labour’s NEC says the decision was to prevent substantial amounts of public money being spent on an "unnecessary mayoral election".

NEC sources say the vote was 8-1 in favour of blocking Burnham. The prime minister was among those voting to block.

Burnham says he is "disappointed" by the decision and is concerned about the ruling's "impact on the important elections ahead of us". He also claimed the decision was leaked to the media before he was told - we'll have more from his statement soon.

Some Labour MPs have criticised the move, with former shadow chancellor John McDonnell suggesting the prime minister did not "understand the depth of anger there will be amongst our members about this".

We’re expecting to hear fresh comments from Labour figures on the decision shortly – stick with us.