The by-election in the constituency of Makerfield was held on Thursday 18th June with a head-to-head fight between the Labour Party and Reform UK.
Many outlets, amongst them The Telegraph, labelled it as “the most remarkable by-election for over a hundred years”. In many ways, this is because Labour MP Josh Simons, who stood down from his seat, did so voluntarily. This created an opportunity for Andy Burnham to stand for Parliament for the first time since 2017. While commentators have suggested this could support his potential return to Westminster, no formal arrangement has been confirmed. This came after a dismal set of local election results for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party in May, losing almost 1,500 councillors and exactly 38 councils. This also coincides with Nigel Farage’s Reform consistently polling ahead of Labour since April 2025.
Sights for Number 10?
Burnham has been consistently challenged on his long-term political plans, an example of which was on BBC Question Time onJune 4th. Presenter Fiona Bruce raised the speculation that Burnham had parliamentary plans beyond just representing Makerfield, saying “Okay, you want to be MP for Makerfield but you want to get to Number 10”.
Burnham responded, “I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level…Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership contest, so if that was running, I would seek to join it”. Some political opponents, including Nigel Farage and Reform’s candidate Rob Kenyon, a local councillor and plumber, have described the move as a ‘stepping stone’ towards office.
Reform and Kenyon
During the campaign, reports that included coverage by The Independent, cited findings from the organisation Hope Not Hate, highlighting comments attributed to Kenyon that have been described as ‘sexist’. These include: “women can’t ref[eree], drive or give directions”, and “I’m sexist, sorry but I am”. Kenyon later suggested that women support the right to abortion so that they can “shag anyone they want and if they get caught, they get a second chance”. This is on top of comments reportedly expressing views on Russia’s actions in Crimea, which have drawn criticism. In response, Reform UK defended Kenyon, describing his comments as “locker room banter” and justifying them due to him making them before entering politics.
Labour’s Chaos
In normal circumstances, due to Reform’s lead in the polls and their wins during the local elections in the area, some commentators suggested it was theirs to lose. The former Mayor of Greater Manchester was previously blocked from standing in a by-election, a seat later won by the Green’s Hannah Spencer. In the run-up to the Gorton and Denton by-election, Burnham attempted to stand as Labour’s candidate but was denied by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC). The reason given was to “avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources”. Despite this, media reports, including by the BBC, suggested the decision may have been due to being widely seen as a ‘’potential leadership challenger”.
However, since then, Keir Starmer has come under increasing pressure after the release of files exposing an alleged relationship between ex-Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein. Additionally, Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s resignation from the Cabinet, stating that he intended to challenge the Prime Minister, as well as the following fallout from Defence Secretary Jon Healy’s resignation led to increased calls for the Prime Minister to resign. Political commentators have suggested Starmer’s hand was dealt for him – Burnham needed to win to take their fight back to Reform, with him being the only Labour politician with a higher popularity than Starmer according to Ipsos.
The Result
Weeks of hard campaigning and polls predicted a tight contest, with a poll from Survation suggesting a three point lead for Labour, it built the anticipation. The results were announced at 3am on Friday 19th June where Labour’s Andy Burnham won by just over 9,000 votes, amounting to approximately 20% of the vote. As a momentous win for Burnham, this could be the start of his path to Downing Street, due to him receiving enough backing from sitting Labour MPs to launch a contest.
As for Reform, they reportedly aren’t too disheartened to lose to the so-called “King of the North”, as they are, at the time of writing, still ahead of Labour in the polls.
Read another article by The Badger: https://thebadgeronline.com/2026/06/anti-fascism-on-the-streets-politicians-in-the-seats/
