The decision was made by a 10-strong sub-group of the NEC, chaired by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, on Sunday morning. Confirming the decision in a statement, the Labour Party said the NEC had decided to deny Mr Burnham permission to stand in order to avoid "an unnecessary election for the position of Greater Manchester mayor".
The party said a mayoral by-election "would have a substantial and disproportionate impact on party campaign resources" before local and devolved elections in May.
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.
A Labour backbencher said the decision was "a total sh**show" and "utter nonsense", predicting the party would now lose the Gorton and Denton by-election for which Mr Burnham was attempting to stand.
However, GB News deputy political editor Tom Harwood pointed out Mr Burnham may still have an opportunity to contest the seat if he chooses another method of running, a tactic once used by Ken Livingstone. After failing to become Labour's candidate for London Mayor in the 2000 election, Mr Livingstone successfully won the race as an independent and went on to serve two terms, the second in 2004 when he was invited to run as Labour's chosen candidate.
Mr Harwood referenced Mr Livingstone's famous political move in his post on X. He wrote: "The Big Balls Burnham move would be to stand as an independent. Ken Livingstonesque. Then challenge Labour to accept him into the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) once he wins the seat."
Some trade unions have spoken out against the decision to block Mr Burnham's candidacy. Andrea Egan, the newly-elected general secretary of Britain's largest trade union Unison, said: "I know many, many trade unionists will be so disappointed and angry at local members not being given a say over who their candidate should be.
"This isn't the way any democratic organisation should be run. Now's the time to unite our movement, not divide it."
The TSSA union accused the NEC of blocking Mr Burnham for "factional reasons", adding: "Labour has lost its way and must change its path to survive."
Although previous MP Andrew Gwynne won the constituency comfortably in 2024, the collapse in Labour's polling numbers since then means the party now faces a tough fight with Reform UK and the Green Party to retain the seat.
Other Labour MPs backed the decision, however, urging the party to avoid infighting and move on to winning the by-election.
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