Nigel Farage is looking to pick a “big name” candidate to stand in the Gorton & Denton by-election after Andy Burnham was blocked from running as Labour’s candidate by Sir Keir Starmer.

Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) officers blocked Mr Burnham from standing in the by-election by eight votes to one, with the party’s Deputy Leader Lucy Powell being the only vote in favour of letting the Greater Manchester Mayor stand.

Reform UK is now poised to pick a candidate who will scare off Sir Keir Starmer from campaigning in the area, insiders have claimed.

“It risks demoralising the Labour activists and the Prime Minister dare not show his face,” a source told The Spectator.

Meanwhile, Reform MP Lee Anderson said: “The Labour faithful are now beginning to see the real Starmer.

“An authoritarian Prime Minister who will try and crush anything or anyone in his way.

“He’s allowed elections to be cancelled and now he’s cancelling members of his own party. Mark my words, he will be punished at the ballot box.”

However, Reform UK’s musings about the upcoming by-election came amid more ruptures emerging in Labour’s civil war.

Mr Burnham yesterday said he was “disappointed” by the decision and “concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us”.

In a statement on social media, the Greater Manchester Mayor said he would “return with full focus” to his mayoral job and urged unity in the face of “the divisive politics of Reform”.

However, in a swipe at Labour, Mr Burnham claimed the NEC’s decision had been leaked to the press before he had been informed.

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

FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…

Decision to block Andy Burnham from standing was more ‘focus than factionalism’ 

A Cabinet Minister said the decision to block Mr Burnham from seeking a return to Westminster was more about “focus than factionalism.”

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander acknowledged Sir Keir Starmer’s role in the decision to block his potential leadership rival, telling Times Radio: “This was a decision, of course, that the Prime Minister was involved in, but was actually a decision taken by a subcommittee of Labour’s national executive committee (NEC).”

He said: “The judgment was more about focus than factionalism.”