Labour reveals Gorton and Denton candidate after Andy Burnham blocked from standing in by-election

It comes after Labour last week decided to block Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham from standing for the seat, vacated by Andrew Gwynne.

The election is set to take place on February 26, after suspended Labour MP Mr Gwynne announced he was stepping down.

Labour won the seat more than 50 per cent of the vote in 2024, by a majority of 13,000.

Nigel Farage's Reform came second with 14 per cent - 5,142 - with Greens in third after 4,810 votes.

Ms Stogia, who is a Labour councillor for the Whalley Range ward, said she was "so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning".

As her candidacy was announced, she told an outside crowd of party activists: "I am absolutely thrilled and excited, and I want to thank everyone who came to the hustings.

"I am a proud Mancunian woman. I have walked the streets of this constituency."

She added: "This is about Manchester. Manchester is a city united, we are rejecting division.

"I am so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning this for Labour."

Ms Stogia is originally from Greece, but moved to Manchester more than 30 years ago and is a British citizen.

Ms Stogia's page on the Labour website reads: "When the Conservative / Lib Dem coalition government came to power in 2010, I like many others wanted to get more involved in politics to fight against their plans, and in 2011 I put myself forward to become a Manchester City Councillor.

"Thanks to the support of the Whalley Range voters I won the election and so proudly became the first ever Manchester Councillor of Greek heritage."

Last week, Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) voted to block Mr Burnham in a landslide decision, with eight of the 10 members, including Sir Keir Starmer, voting against the Mayor of Greater Manchester standing.

Just one committee member was in favour, the party's deputy leader Lucy Powell, while the NEC chairman, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, abstained.

Speaking after the decision, Mr Burnham said: "The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days.

"You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something but sadly not."

Mr Burnham also claimed Labour "never" supported him in his mayoral elections, sparking fury from one MP who accused him of "taking the p**s".

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Burnham said: "I would have pointed out to them I’ve never had any support from the party in the three mayoral elections I’ve fought, so the Greater Manchester mayoral election has never been a great expense. I’ve never had support in fighting it."

Responding to the Greater Manchester Mayor, a Labour MP said: "Go and tell that to the thousands of activists who went knocking on doors and leafleting to get him elected.”