The Labour Party has defended its decision not to allow the mayor of Greater Manchester to stand as a candidate in a by-election. The move would have allowed Andy Burnham to stage a leadership bid against Sir Keir Starmer, if he later chose to. A statement from the party said the reason behind the vote was the cost of running the campaigns for both a parliamentary seat and a Manchester mayoralty by-election. Mr Burnham said he was "disappointed" by the decision but would support the new