LABOUR leadership candidate Andy Burnham has voiced support for a review of the ban on his party's candidates standing in the north's elections.
As the campaign to find Ed Miliband's successor enters its final phase, the MP for Leigh said he advocated giving Labour members in the region an opportunity to contest elections.
Although the Northern Ireland Constituency Labour Party has around 300 members and is affiliated to the British Labour Party, its larger sister party refuses to let it fight elections.
But the man who is the bookies' second favourite to be the next Labour leader has indicated that he will move to lift the ban.
In a statement released by his campaign team, Mr Burnham said: "I am a long term supporter of the principle that the members of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland should have the right to decide when and where they want to stand candidates in elections.
"If those members decide that at election time the people of Northern Ireland need a socialist, non-sectarian party to vote for, a party that can appeal to people of all classes and to people of all faiths or none, then we should not stand in their way."
He said that if elected Labour leader, he would seek to review the ban.
"If elected leader, I will support an immediate review of the current prohibition on Labour Party candidates and will seek the views of the Irish Labour Party and others, as to how best we can assist the very many Labour Party members and supporters in Northern Ireland," he said.
It is unclear why Mr Burnham made a reference to the Republic's Labour party, given the SDLP's long-standing association with Labour in Britain.
An SDLP spokesman said the party was aware of one leadership candidate writing to voting Labour members in the north advocating a review of the election policy.
The spokesman said the SDLP would be happy to meet with the new labour leader following the election to discuss the matter further.
In his statement, the Catholic former health secretary also risks criticism from unionists by initially using 'North of Ireland' – a term preferred by nationalists.
Mr Burnham goes on to use Northern Ireland numerous times – and 'province' once – in his statement and also talks about Ireland's strong ties with his native Liverpool.
The 45-year-old leadership contender said the prospect of "another five years of Tory-imposed austerity" is extremely worrying for the north and he also argues in favour of abolishing educational selection at 11 and for enhanced rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
