New Delhi, Jan. 28 -- A row erupted Sunday within Britain's governing Labour Party after the ambitious mayor of Manchester was prevented from trying to re-enter Parliament at a special election in the city, with critics claiming Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not want to see a potentially dangerous rival back in the House of Commons.

Andy Burnham, who has been in charge of the Greater Manchester region since 2017 and has expressed interest in being Labour leader in the future, made a request to the party's governing committee on Saturday to stand as the candidate in the upcoming election for the Gorton and Denton constituency.

The request stoked speculation that Burnham wants to be in place in Parliament for a possible challenge to Sta...