Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election, sources close to Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) have said.NEC sources told the Press Association there had been a “very clear majority” against allowing Mr Burnham from applying for selection in the seat due to concerns about the cost of fighting a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester.The decision was made by a 10-strong sub-group of the NEC, chaired by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Sunday morning.Blocking Mr Burnham is likely to provoke anger from some parts of the Labour Party after several senior figures called for local members to have the final say on whether he should stand.They included deputy leader Lucy Powell, herself an NEC member, and Cabinet minister Ed Miliband, who had both told a conference in London on Saturday that the decision should be left to members.
