“Tomorrow I return with full focus to my role as Mayor of GM, defending everything we have built in our city-region over many years,” Burnham wrote. “I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way.” Still, he criticized the fact that the media was informed of the NEC’s decision before he was, saying that “tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days.”