Published in the Manchester Evening News
Here are five updates in the Makerfield contest you may have missed on Tuesday (May 19):
Andy Burnham was officially announced as the candidate for Labour in Makerfield. It is understood that the Greater Manchester Mayor was the only person shortlisted for selection by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC). Last time he tried to run for a seat in Gorton and Denton, he was spectacularly blocked. Mr Burnham said: “These proud working-class communities represent the very best values of our country and they deserve so much better. It would be my honour to work for them every day, if elected as their MP, to achieve that.” If he returns to Parliament, Mr Burnham is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, but the Prime Minister has insisted he will not “walk away” from Downing Street.
Also on Tuesday, Reform announced their own ‘plucky plumber’ for Makerfield - Robert Kenyon. “If I was elected I would be the first person born in the constituency to become the MP. I don’t think any MP that’s stood in Makerfield was born in the area,” he said in a campaign video. “It gets me a bit emotional sometimes thinking that there’s a chance that I could be representing people in Parliament, because it’s a massive honour. People will be thinking ‘hang on, he serviced my boiler last week’.” He was elected Reform councillor for Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North in May’s local elections. The plumber took home 1,770 votes, leaving Labour trailing behind a distant second, at just 816. Self-employed, he has also served as an army reservist and previously worked as a specialist technician for the NHS in Lancashire. He previously stood in Makerfield at the 2024 General Election.
Labour MPs are reportedly eyeing up positions in a possible Burnham cabinet, with senior ministers preparing trips to Makerfield to show support for Burnham, so should he win the by-election and take leadership of the party, they’d potentially have a better position in a Burnham led cabinet, according to The i Paper. “The equation cabinet ministers are making is that if they go and he wins they will get a plum job,” one senior source has told the publication. “If they don’t go and he wins, he will remember. And if they don’t go and he loses, he will remember.”
Meanwhile, constituents have continued to speak to the M.E.N. On the ground, the view was mixed. In Bryn, Paul Riley, 41, said: “Labour have broken their mandate for me. I counted up at least 20 promises that Labour have broken and they’ve not even been in power for two years. I voted Reform to shake things up, locally and nationally, hopefully to see some real change. I won’t be changing my vote in this by-election.” Also in Bryn, Thomas Davies, 74, said he’d never supported Labour before but would be backing Burnham in Makerfield come polling day. “I want him to get rid of Starmer, Reeves, Lammy and Miliband… get change at the very top. If I vote for Farage’s lot it would just mean they have one more MP in a small group, they can achieve nothing. At least with Burnham he’d be able to get things shaken up.” A mile away in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lyndsey Maloney, 61, has also noticed a shift in her social group from Labour support to voting for Reform UK, but suggested the ‘Burnham effect’ could shift that in the upcoming by-election. She said: “Many in my social group who I chatted to voted Reform in the council elections a couple of weeks ago. I asked some of them to name their candidate and they couldn’t tell me. The reasons they gave me were that they felt fed up, that things needed to change and be shook up. I think Andy Burnham has felt that shift in opinions, understands the disaffection with working voters and will understand that cry for change, for thing to be done differently.”
It was announced the by-election is likely to take place on June 18, following the issuing of the writ in the Commons on Tuesday. Labour confirmed no other candidates had been shortlisted for the seat vacated by Josh Simons, with the date to be confirmed by Commons authorities.
“If Burnham can’t beat Reform in Greater Manchester - can anyone?”
Published with the Manchester Evening News.
Dr Timothy Oliver, Lecturer in British politics and public policy at The University of Manchester, said Labour are in ‘extremely deep trouble’ if Reform’s candidate Robert Kenyon wins the Makerfield by-election.
“It’s quite an unusual by-election,” he told the M.E.N. “[It’s] not often that you get a candidate who voters might reasonably assume is running to replace the sitting Prime Minister and leader of his own party, and therefore can run against the Prime Minister.
“If Reform do win, or the Greens, but that seems less likely at this moment, then Labour are clearly in extremely deep trouble, given the candidates in play. If Burnham can’t beat Reform in Greater Manchester - can anyone beat them?
“The margin also matters. When the votes are counted, pay attention to shares of vote, changes, and how close the lead is. They will also be really important for the future. If Burnham wins a big share of the vote and a big majority, that’s also important as well.”
Discussing Labour’s performance and the public perception of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he continued: “The government is objectively in very deep political trouble. Finishing third in Wales - a country they have won every election in since 1922. Fifth worst set of local election results in England for any government since 1945. Fallen back further in Scotland.
“Keir Starmer is personally very unpopular, and when you read about how his government functions, it seems he’s a real factor in why things have gone wrong; a failure to make decisions, to make a case for things he wants.
“You can therefore see a very clear argument for a new leader. Whether any of the likely candidates are going to be able to dig them out of the electoral hole they are in - that’s a very big question.”
Labour MPs ‘scramble’ for positions in possible Burnham cabinet
Published with the Manchester Evening News.
Labour MPs are reportedly scrambling for positions in a possible future Burnham-led cabinet.
Senior ministers are preparing trips to Makerfield to show support for Burnham, so should he win the by-election and take leadership of the party, they’d potentially have a better position in a Burnham led cabinet, according to The i Paper.
“The equation cabinet ministers are making is that if they go and he wins they will get a plum job,” one senior source has told the publication. “If they don’t go and he wins, he will remember. And if they don’t go and he loses, he will remember.”
While Rachel Reeves has already endorsed Burnham, there are questions of whether she’ll go to Makerfield to show support, which could give an indication to shifting loyalties within the party.
Meanwhile Bloomberg reported that Burnham’s campaign has failed to rule out rises to income tax, national insurance, VAT, or corporation tax, which could indicate a breaking of manifesto promises.
Burnham’s spokesperson told the publication: “Andy is not standing on a national manifesto at this election; he is standing to make a difference for the people of Makerfield and to bring the change he has delivered in Greater Manchester to the national stage.”
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