That would be great fun!

Always better to argue with what people actually say, rather than with what you think they might say under different circumstances. Otherwise you're just debating the person in your head, and there's never much point in that.

But Johnson did not have to resign the mayoralty to become an MP - see other posts on this. And he was not less than halfway through his term when the opportunity arose.

PCCs will be abolished in 2028, so nothing changes before then. After that, the government wants their responsibilities to be taken over by elected mayors, so the Manchester model would become the norm. But it's not yet clear whether this would still disbar them from running as MPs - I suspect not.

They're different jobs. The Mayor of London is not also the Police and Crime Commissioner, so there is no legal bar against holding both jobs simultaneously. The Mayor of Greater Manchester *is* the PCC, so is legally forbidden to sit in Parliament.

It doesn't. It just means they shouldn't dump the job less than halfway through their term.

I'd love to see people like Andy Burnham, Sadiq Khan and Tracey Brabin bringing their experience back into Parliament once they've finished their terms. That would be really healthy.

Yes, it's another example of the haplessness of Labour's political communications, beyond willy-waving and arm-flexing.

Not until 2028.

Indeed! Though if he had stood by his guns, he would probably have won. It's another example of what a superb operator Rachel was that she talked him round straight after the previous roundtable, when I'd have been a gibbering wreck.

There are different kinds of mayoralty. The Mayor of Greater Manchester is also the Police and Crime Commissioner for the region. PCCs are barred by law from sitting in Parliament. So Burnham cannot be both Mayor of Greater Manchester and an MP. He must give up the former to become the latter.

I quite like Burnham & would rather more of Lab's "big beasts" were in Parliament.

But dumping the mayoralty of a major city, with more than half your term to go, & dropping your party into a difficult mayoral election, is a serious thing to do.

If I were on the NEC, I wouldn't be wild about that.

Yes - a wonderful redemption arc, in which he visibly wrestled with temptation and then did the right thing.

I agree with that too, but in this case the issue isn't the imposition of a candidate by the NEC. The issue is a party rule that people who hold elected positions as mayors and PCCs need the party's permission to run, because doing so involves giving up their current position.

Resigning as elected mayor of a major city is a much bigger deal than standing down as a local councillor, whom hardly anyone could name.

The legal barrier is real: Burnam *cannot* be an MP & Mayor of Greater Manchester. So in running for the former he announces his intention to resign the latter.

Technically I think the disqualification is on election. But it would be very difficult to say to voters: "it is my intention to resign as mayor so I can do something more important. But if I lose this election, I will stay on as a consolation prize".