Britain’s Labour Party has blocked Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing to return to parliament, a move that has fuelled accusations from party figures that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seeking to sideline a potential leadership rival.

Burnham, one of Labour’s most prominent figures and the elected mayor of Greater Manchester, said on Saturday he wanted to become the party’s candidate to replace a Labour lawmaker who resigned on Thursday.

However, Labour’s National Executive Committee voted on Sunday to refuse him permission to stand, with senior party officers, including Starmer, backing the decision by eight votes to one.

Burnham said he was disappointed by the outcome and criticised the way the process had been handled, while also calling for unity within the party.

Labour is currently trailing Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist Reform UK in opinion polls ahead of key local elections in May, and has faced criticism for struggling to deliver on promises of economic growth, improved public services and tighter border controls.

Blocking Burnham’s candidacy prevents him from returning to the House of Commons, where only sitting MPs can formally trigger a leadership challenge.

In a statement, Labour said Burnham was doing “a great job” as mayor and argued that allowing him to stand would force an unnecessary mayoral election.

“We believe it is in the best interests of the party to avoid an unnecessary Mayoral election,” the statement said, citing the cost to taxpayers and party funds.

Burnham later said in a post on X that he was concerned about how the decision could affect Labour’s electoral prospects.

While initially calling for unity, he added a sharper criticism of the party leadership, saying the media had been informed of the NEC decision before he was.

“That tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days,” he said.

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