New mayor Andy Burnham 'snubs' Jeremy Corbyn 'to go celebrating'

Jeremy Corbyn received an apparent snub from Andy Burnham - as the new mayor of Greater Manchester mayor appeared to go out celebrating.

The Labour leader held a rally with supporters on the steps of the Manchester Convention Centre on Friday just hours after Mr Burnham's emphatic election to the post with 63% of the votes.

But as Mr Corbyn praised the former Leigh MP's majority as "stupendous", his colleague was conspicuously absent.

The Labour leader told ITV News that Mr Burnham was "busy working for Manchester already", but a picture on Twitter seemed to suggest he was enjoying celebratory drinks at a bar.

ITV News Political Correspondent Daniel Hewitt understands that Mr Burnham's team told Labour HQ they wouldn't be attending the photo-call.

At the rally, Mr Corbyn, who received a tumultuous reception from around 200 supporters, said: "I have been in touch with Andy to congratulate him and he's already hard at work on behalf of the people of the Greater Manchester region."

Mr Burnham, a former Health Secretary, was easily elected Greater Manchester's first metro-mayor with well over half the votes.

His election was one of the few highlights for Labour in an otherwise miserable set of local government results.

The party lost more than 300 councillors across the UK, as the Conservatives made significant inroads - including in Labour strongholds.

Mr Burnham said a prior engagement had prevented him from attending celebrating with Mr Corbyn tonight and he was not the only notable absentee from the rally.

Labour candidate for Manchester Central Lucy Powell claimed she was not invited - despite the event taking place in her constituency.

On Twitter, she wrote that Mr Corbyn's office had called to apologise for the "simple mistake".