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MP may be blocked from parliament by gender balance co

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I accidentally came access this.  Can someone explain this?   This is wild. 

 

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/12/andy-burnham-may-be-blocked-from-parliament-by-gender-balance-rules

 

Andy Burnham may be blocked from parliament by gender balance concerns

 

It is unlikely that a male candidate would be put forward for shortlist in any forthcoming by-election

 

Andy Burnham could be blocked from standing as an MP due to gender balance considerations, the New Statesman has learned.

It is unlikely that a male candidate would be put forward for shortlist in any forthcoming by-election, an NEC source told this magazine. “Gender balance in our party is much more important than boosting the ego of any single politician,” they said.

It comes after a weekend of yet more speculation about Burnham’s intentions, with front page stories in the Sunday Times and the Mail On Sunday claiming that he had found a seat to run in. But could this spell a final end to the Greater Manchester mayor’s parliamentary ambitions? Party officials could decide to select only female candidates in forthcoming by-elections because of the current gender imbalance of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Just when it seemed the age of woke was nearing the end. Labor are nuts, you can't elect a PM based solely on woke box ticking like you can air traffic control or pilots.

no Farage fan but that country needs proper leadership and he looks the only serious option.

Seems like an excuse to block Andy Burnham.  A lame one of course.

50 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

Can someone explain this?   This is wild. 

 

Easy

 

Because its 2015.......

 

 

 

 

 

32 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Just when it seemed the age of woke was nearing the end. Labor are nuts, you can't elect a PM based solely on woke box ticking like you can air traffic control or pilots.

no Farage fan but that country needs proper leadership and he looks the only serious option.

 

The process is about electing a candidate to stand for the Labour Party in any forthcoming parliamentary by-election. You might consider that process to be 'woke', but it is not related to how a PM is selected.

1 hour ago, Mike_Hunt said:

I accidentally came access this.  Can someone explain this?   This is wild. 

 

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/12/andy-burnham-may-be-blocked-from-parliament-by-gender-balance-rules

 

Andy Burnham may be blocked from parliament by gender balance concerns

 

It is unlikely that a male candidate would be put forward for shortlist in any forthcoming by-election

 

 

Andy Burnham could be blocked from standing as an MP due to gender balance considerations, the New Statesman has learned.

It is unlikely that a male candidate would be put forward for shortlist in any forthcoming by-election, an NEC source told this magazine. “Gender balance in our party is much more important than boosting the ego of any single politician,” they said.

It comes after a weekend of yet more speculation about Burnham’s intentions, with front page stories in the Sunday Times and the Mail On Sunday claiming that he had found a seat to run in. But could this spell a final end to the Greater Manchester mayor’s parliamentary ambitions? Party officials could decide to select only female candidates in forthcoming by-elections because of the current gender imbalance of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

 

Behind your apparently innocuous question lies a multitude of complications and intrigue.

 

Firstly, a bit of background: Andy Burnham is a former Labour Party MP and Cabinet Minister in Tony Blair's government. He has previously run unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Labour Party. He is no longer an MP and is now Mayor of Manchester (the UK's 3rd biggest city). Even political opponents will admit that he has had some success in this role and he has managed to maintain a high-profile nationwide. I think that it's fair to say that despite being in the same party,  Burnham and PM Starmer are not political blood brothers. Recently Burnham has made no secret of the fact that he would like to be PM.

 

Burnham's first problem is that to achieve that goal he must be a MP. As you know, the UK has just had a General Election, so Burnham's only chance of becoming one before 2028/9 is to win a by-election. These are relatively rare events and are usually caused by the incumbent MP dying (or more occasionally resigning or being convicted of a crime). A further complication for Burnham is that the Labour government is not popular and his only realistic chance of winning a by-election would be in his heartland, the Greater Manchester area.

 

Burnham's problems do not end there. Local Labour Party members have a significant say in the selection of candidates for a General Election, less so for by-elections where, due to time constraints, Labour Central Office has the biggest input. Labour Central Office is heavily influenced by Starmer and his supporters who have obviously no desire to see Burnham return to Westminster, and will make it as difficult as possible for him to get selected as a candidate.

 

So what about the gender imbalance issue? Labour has internal rules which say that the list of prospective candidates must include a certain proportion of women and ethnic minority candidates. Moreover, there is another Labour Party rule which states that a goal should be to have equality in the numbers of male and female MPs and currently, there are fewer female MPs.

 

Let's now assume that a by-election will happen in the Greater Manchester area. It is possible that the NEC will try to force an all-women list on the local consistency and argue that this is a necessary step in order to achieve gender parity at Westminster. However, imo Burnham's supporters - and probably many others in the Labour Party - would view this as blatant internal gerrymandering by Starmer's supporters in an attempt to keep Burnham out and they (the NEC) would be forced to back down. 

 

As I said, it's full of intigue.

  • Author
10 hours ago, RayC said:

 

Behind your apparently innocuous question lies a multitude of complications and intrigue.

 

Firstly, a bit of background: Andy Burnham is a former Labour Party MP and Cabinet Minister in Tony Blair's government. He has previously run unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Labour Party. He is no longer an MP and is now Mayor of Manchester (the UK's 3rd biggest city). Even political opponents will admit that he has had some success in this role and he has managed to maintain a high-profile nationwide. I think that it's fair to say that despite being in the same party,  Burnham and PM Starmer are not political blood brothers. Recently Burnham has made no secret of the fact that he would like to be PM.

 

Burnham's first problem is that to achieve that goal he must be a MP. As you know, the UK has just had a General Election, so Burnham's only chance of becoming one before 2028/9 is to win a by-election. These are relatively rare events and are usually caused by the incumbent MP dying (or more occasionally resigning or being convicted of a crime). A further complication for Burnham is that the Labour government is not popular and his only realistic chance of winning a by-election would be in his heartland, the Greater Manchester area.

 

Burnham's problems do not end there. Local Labour Party members have a significant say in the selection of candidates for a General Election, less so for by-elections where, due to time constraints, Labour Central Office has the biggest input. Labour Central Office is heavily influenced by Starmer and his supporters who have obviously no desire to see Burnham return to Westminster, and will make it as difficult as possible for him to get selected as a candidate.

 

So what about the gender imbalance issue? Labour has internal rules which say that the list of prospective candidates must include a certain proportion of women and ethnic minority candidates. Moreover, there is another Labour Party rule which states that a goal should be to have equality in the numbers of male and female MPs and currently, there are fewer female MPs.

 

Let's now assume that a by-election will happen in the Greater Manchester area. It is possible that the NEC will try to force an all-women list on the local consistency and argue that this is a necessary step in order to achieve gender parity at Westminster. However, imo Burnham's supporters - and probably many others in the Labour Party - would view this as blatant internal gerrymandering by Starmer's supporters in an attempt to keep Burnham out and they (the NEC) would be forced to back down. 

 

As I said, it's full of intigue.

Thanks for the background.   

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