Gwynne steps down, paving way for Burnham to become MP
MP Andrew Gwynne, who was suspended from the Labour party last year over offensive WhatsApp messages, issued a statement on Thursday announcing that he will be vacating his seat, a move that will allow Andy Burnham a new route to Parliament.
Gwynne cites his health for why he has applied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to seek the office of Crown Steward of the Manor of Northstead, a procedure that will allow him to step down.
“There will be a by-election soon and I wish my successor, whoever it is, all the very best in representing what I consider to be the best constituency in the UK,” Gwynne said.
More to come.
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Andrew Gwynne has said he will resign as an MP over his ill health, paving the way for Andy Burnham to potentially return to parliament – unless the Greater Manchester mayor is blocked by Keir Starmer. On Thursday, Gwynne reached a settlement with the Commons that would allow him to retire, which would trigger a byelection. Burnham is said to be seeking a return to parliament to stand for the Labour leadership if there is a challenge to Starmer, but was thought to have limited options for a byelection in the north-west.
Keir Starmer met with the Danish prime minister at Chequers today, one day after Donald Trump walked bck his tariff threats but maintained his desire to take control of Greenland. The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, thanked Starmer for supporting Denmark in the sovereignty dispute.
In more Trump news, the UK declined to join the US president’s Board of Peace, with Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, expressing concern over the invitation extended to Vladimir Putin to join.
Back in the UK, 29 councils will be allowed to cancel local elections planned for May because of reorganisation, said Steve Reed, the housing, communities and local government secretary. The decision was met with criticism from the Tory, Liberal Democrat and Reform UK parties, who accused Labour of “running scared” and being afraid of losing at the polls. Reform UK said it planned on legally challenging the decision.
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
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Andy Burnham’s road back to parliament would be a bumpy one
Jessica Elgot
If Andy Burnham has a road back to parliament to challenge Keir Starmer as Labour leader, it is a road with 6ft-deep potholes. With the right vehicle, it may be possible – but there are points at which any brave traveller might think about turning back.
For Burnham to run in Andrew Gwynne’s seat of Gorton and Denton, he would first have to stand down as mayor of Greater Manchester. This in itself is no small decision for a seat he may not get selected to fight. He would potentially cost the authority millions in running a mayoral byelection – and the party a significant sum to fight it.
Then he faces the challenge of getting selected by a panel of the party’s ruling national executive committee. Four NEC members who spoke to the Guardian gave his chances of being selected by that body as “zero”.
Starmer and Burnham have personal animosity, but that is nothing compared with the cold fury that senior figures in No 10 feel towards Burnham for what they see as his openly planning a coup against the prime minister.
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Over at The Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast, John Harris is joined by Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey to discuss Donald Trump and his tariff reversal over Greenland, as well as Labour MP Andrew Gwynne and the leadership aspirations of Andy Burnham.
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MP Andrew Gwynne finished the statement announcing his resignation by saying that he would not be making any further statements – even as the question of what his resignation means for the return of Andy Burnham remains up in the air.
“I wish all my friends in the Gorton & Denton Constituency Labour Party, the PLP and right across the House, well; and I wish the Labour government every success in meeting our country’s challenges head-on and providing the real change the people of Britain voted for in 2024,” Gwynne said.
He asked that he be “left in peace to be able to start the long process of getting well again, and to spend precious time with my family.”
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In the statement announcing his resignation, MP Andrew Gwynne apologised for the offensive WhatsApp messages that led to his suspension in February.
“To those I upset, offended or angered, I sincerely and humbly apologise – they are not who I am – and to those who stuck with me and supported me though some of the most difficult mental health challenges of my life, I will be forever grateful to you,” Gwynne said. “You probably saved my life at its lowest point.”
Gwynne, the former health minister, touted his successes in office, campaigning to save open spaces in his constituency of Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester and the Debt Relief Act 2010 that stopped financial “vulture funds’” from pursuing full payment on some of the world’s poorest indebted countries.
He noted that he had won nine elections and thanked all who supported him.
“Over those years I haven’t got everything right and I’ve certainly made mistakes, but I’ve always tried my very best and I have helped tens of thousands of constituents with their issues along the way,” Gwynne said. “Indeed it’s been helping people that’s given me the greatest pleasure in these jobs.”
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Gwynne cites health concerns for why he is stepping down as MP
The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar, Jessica Elgot and Josh Halliday have more on Labour MP Andrew Gwynne and his decision to resign, a move that opens up a route for Andy Burnham to potentially return to parliament.
In a statement, Gwynne said he this has “suffered significant ill-health over most of the 21 years” he has served as MP, which had been “greatly exacerbated by the impact of last year’s events regarding leaked text messages”. Gwynne was suspended from the Labour party after he was found to have been in a WhatsApp group – called Trigger Me Timbers – that shared vulgar and inflammatory comments about voters and other MPs.
He quoted his GP, who said that he did not think Gwynne would be able to safely “return to work as an MP”.
More here:
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Updated at 17.07 CET
Gwynne steps down, paving way for Burnham to become MP
MP Andrew Gwynne, who was suspended from the Labour party last year over offensive WhatsApp messages, issued a statement on Thursday announcing that he will be vacating his seat, a move that will allow Andy Burnham a new route to Parliament.
Gwynne cites his health for why he has applied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to seek the office of Crown Steward of the Manor of Northstead, a procedure that will allow him to step down.
“There will be a by-election soon and I wish my successor, whoever it is, all the very best in representing what I consider to be the best constituency in the UK,” Gwynne said.
More to come.
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Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, on Thursday criticised the cancellation of 29 council elections in May.
“Labour are running scared of the electorate and denying millions of people a voice at May’s local elections,” Davey said. “This blatant stitch‑up will allow some councillors to cling on to power for up to seven years without facing the voters.”
Davey continued: “Ministers shouldn’t just be able to delay democracy at the stroke of a pen, we need a change in the law so MPs can vote on any future election delays and hold the government to account.”
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Starmer declines to say whether he supports Andy Burnham standing as an MP
Jessica Elgot
Keir Starmer on Thursday declined to say whether he supported Andy Burnham standing as an MP should Labour MP Andrew Gwynne stand down as expected.
“It is a very early stage, and the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party will set out the process in the usual way, as it always does for by-elections,” Starmer told broadcasters.
“Andy Burnham is doing an excellent job as mayor of Manchester. We work very closely together. We work very closely together. Last year, we were responding together to the terrible attack on a synagogue in Manchester, more recently, we were working together on Northern Powerhouse Rail.”
He continued: “I think Andy would acknowledge that working with this government has been much better than the experience he had of working with previous governments.”
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Updated at 16.21 CET
Reform UK to legally challenge cancellation of local elections for 29 councils
Reform UK has issued a statement over cancellation of 29 council elections, alleging that “(t)he establishment is running scared”.
Steve Reed, the housing, communities and local government secretary, said that 29 councils will be allowed to cancel local elections planned for May because of reorganisation. The Tories said that the cancellation of so many council elections ‘totally unprecedented, but Reform UK said that polling from JL Partners has revealed that 20 councils where elections are set to be cancelled would have been won by Reform UK.
Of the 29 councils, the party affiliations of the council leaders in 21 of the councils are Labour, while five are Tory and one is Liberal Democrat.
“Millions of people’s right to vote has been taken away,” Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, said in a statement on Thursday. “Reform UK are fighting this denial of democracy in the High Court.”
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Updated at 18.36 CET
We have corrected the list of councils where elections are being delayed because Norwich city council is Labour led, not Lib Dem led. (See 12.38pm.) We are sorry for the error.
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Union leader says it would be ‘democratic outrage’ if Labour blocked Burnham from being byelection candidate
Andrew Sparrow
Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has said it would be a “democratic outrage” if Labour were to block Andy Burnham from standing as a byelection candidate in Andrew Gwynne’s seat.
Amid claims Keir Starmer’s allies on the national executive committee do want to stop Burnham being a candidate, Wright said:
It would be a democratic outrage if Andy Burnham was blocked from seeking selection as Labour’s byelection candidate in this seat.
In the event that a byelection takes place, as an affiliated union, the FBU will not stand by and allow senior Labour politicians like Andy to be carved out of this process.
Our union will fiercely resist any attempts to stitch up the selection.
It’s vital that there is a full and open democratic procedure to choose Labour’s candidate to fight this byelection.
Anything less would be unacceptable.
That is all from me for today. Vivian Ho is taking over now.
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Updated at 15.22 CET
