Andy Burnham has been handed a huge boost in his Makerfield by-election bid after it emerged the Green Party has decided to run a scaled-back campaign against him.

The Greater Manchester mayor is Labour's candidate in the contest and is hoping to win the House of Commons seat with a view to going on to challenge Keir Starmer.

The first poll of the by-election campaign suggested Mr Burnham is facing a fierce battle against Reform UK in the constituency.

But a decision by the Greens to devote only limited resources to the contest - in an apparent stitch-up on the Left - will give Mr Burnham a better shot at winning.

It has been reported that, following a debate within the party, the Greens will not order a mass mobilisation of activists to Makerfield as they did for their successful campaign at the Gorton and Denton by-election in February.

'I doubt we are going to be bussing people in to Makerfield to door-knock,' one party source said. 

Another Green source acknowledged the party was more interested in winning a possible mayoral contest in Greater Manchester than the 18 June by-election.

Mr Burnham will have to resign as Greater Manchester mayor if he is successful in becoming the new Makerfield MP.

Green leader Zack Polanski's team is said to have come to the realisation that there was more harm to be potentially done than benefits to gain in Makerfield.

'They know they can't win, and it would be terrible to be blamed for letting Reform in,' a senior party figure told The Guardian.

The Greens on Tuesday announced a new candidate for the Makerfield contest after their previous choice withdrew from the contest.

Sarah Wakefield, a Manchester city councillor, said her message was 'the future can be better and fairer than the failed status quo' as she was unveiled as the Green hopeful.

The previous Green candidate, Chris Kennedy, pulled out after just nine hours citing 'personal and family reasons'.

He apologised after it was reported that he had shared a social media post calling an attack on Jewish ambulances in north London a 'false flag'.

The first poll of the by-election campaign suggested Mr Burnham (on 43 per cent support) has a three-point lead over Reform candidate Robert Kenyon (40 per cent).

Restore Britain, a Right-wing rival to Reform, were third in the Survation survey on 7 per cent support.

The Greens' decision to focus on a potential mayoral contest rather than the by-election will pile more pressure on Right-wing parties to unite to keep Mr Burnham from No10.

Former Conservative Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said this week: 'I fear the Left is more politically astute than the Right.

'At the last election they clearly had an informal cooperation over seats and now they admit it for the Makerfield by-election.

'The Right must learn from this and work together in a similar fashion. As Margaret Thatcher said "Marxists get up early in the morning to further their cause."

'We must get up even earlier to defend our freedom. Unfortunately, we are now lie-a-beds.'