LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - British Labour Party politician Andy Burnham, regarded as a potential leadership rival to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was on Sunday blocked from trying to return to parliament by Labour's governing body, local media reported.
Burnham, one of the party's most high-profile politicians and an elected mayor in the northern English city of Manchester, said on Saturday he wanted to become Labour's candidate to replace a lawmaker who resigned last week.
But local news outlets, including the Guardian newspaper, reported that he was refused permission by Labour's National Executive Committee, which voted against the move at a specially convened meeting.
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
