Home secretary Shabana Mahmood, who is also chair of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, spoke to Trevor Phillips. Mahmood praised Andy Burnham as a "fantastic mayor" and said she "appreciated the letter" he wrote to the party leadership, where he sought permission to enter the selection process to run as a candidate for the Labour Party in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election. But she did not rule out an all-women shortlist which would block Burnham's bid to become an MP.