Makerfield by-election results LIVE as Andy Burnham smashes Reform paving way for leadership challenge and Nigel Farage hits out

“The result was no surprise to me – Burnham was popular as Manchester mayor and he’s carried that support. I’m hopeful that having such a high profile MP will be good for Ashton and he can deliver. The town definitely needs it.”

“An incredible result for @AndyBurnhamGM – showing what happens when you offer hope of delivering real change. For too long too many have felt left behind or ignored-we’ve shown hope beats grievance & division. A great night also for @BuryLabour winning their by-election too!”

“In Scotland, we were pleased to come second in Arbroath, but the Conservatives had a win in Aberdeen South. Well, good for them. There’s an irony though, that it was Jeremy Hunt’s budget that destroyed investment in the North Sea. They’ve won, and I think what we’ll see now is the Conservatives will have their pockets of strength around the country.

“But, in the North of England, the Midlands, South Wales and many other areas, the Conservative vote now averages in by-election after by-election around about two per cent. So Reform still is the big national party on the centre-right. A disappointing morning, but we keep going.”

“Well the Makerfield by-election was a dramatic, emphatic win for Andy Burnham, with a vote share that nobody could quite see coming. In many ways, he’s a popular local mayor, just as Boris Johnson was a very popular mayor in London just a few years ago. What really happened here is it was ‘vote Burnham, get Starmer out’, which of course was our campaign message leading up to the locals of May 7. So we were slightly hoist with our own petard.

“As for the Reform vote share, well I thought we would get 18,000 votes. We got just shy of 16,000, so I’m disappointed by that – no question about it. But I would say this. There’s a couple of thousand voters there who would normally have gone out and voted Reform, who voted Restore, and I would say directly to them – what do you want? We are the challenger party to the left in this country, and I would urge you to think again. I really, really would.”

“Greater Manchester Chamber would like to congratulate Andy Burnham on winning the Makerfield by-election. As mayor of Greater Manchester, he can look back with pride on solid achievements such as the introduction of the Bee Network and the MBacc, which will have long-term impacts on the way local people travel and study.

“Andy Burnham has already said he will take part in a Labour leadership election, and his campaign is bound to highlight his successes in Greater Manchester as proof that he can get things done.

“Although it’s a shame to lose such an effective mayor before his term of office is over, I’m sure he will continue to be a staunch advocate for Greater Manchester and the wider North West, whether his future lies in Downing Street or in another role. As a chamber we have always worked well with the mayor and his team and I look forward to developing a strong relationship with his successor in the years ahead.”

“First of all, I think Andy’s going to need a bit of family time because by-elections are incredibly stressful and intense, but what will happen next is Andy is no longer the mayor of Greater Manchester, so there will be a by-election for that position.

“We saw from the result in Makerfield this is going to be a straight Labour-Reform fight. We cannot risk the biggest regional politician in England going over to Reform because of all the division that they would want to sow across the north-west of England, all the damage that they will want to do.

“So all of us in the party celebrate Andy’s victory now, but we need to come together and make sure we win that by-election for the next mayor of Greater Manchester.”

“There is no one person that can make the challenges of Government easier. We’ve got to get the balance right between growing the economy and investing in our public services that were broken.”

“It’s a tremendous result. It should give us all confidence that once again, when presented with a choice between Reform’s divisive politics and an alternative, most people choose hope. We all want politicians that get it; who know that well-functioning public services are vital to allowing people to get on and enjoy their lives. Congratulations to the people of Makerfield for so decisively backing a message of hope, growth and inclusion.”

“There is absolutely no doubt that over the last two years workers and the working class have fallen out of love with Labour. The win for Andy Burnham in Makerfield is a glimmer of hope but it must not be taken as a business as usual mandate.

“It is clear that there now needs to be an orderly timetable for a leadership election and Keir Starmer must do the right thing and step down. The inevitable leadership election must be fought on real change and policies. Not personalities or better speeches.

“This result does paper over the cracks that workers feel abandoned by Labour and they will continue to abandon Labour in droves if there is not a significant change in economic and political direction. Rearranging the deckchairs and incremental reforms just won’t cut it.

“Britain now needs a vision. Workers and communities need hope. We must invest in Britain and jobs, stop everyday people paying for crisis after crisis not of their making. Straightforward policies such as capping energy prices immediately, releasing the crippling freeze on tax bands, introduce a wealth tax to fund our public services and a comprehensive industrial plan backed by real money, would be a good start.”

“I honestly don’t think Burnham will be MP for Makerfield for long – there were special circumstances yesterday that won’t be there for a general election. I thought it was oppressive and aggressive from all the parties around Ashton yesterday – the efforts to get people out to vote.”

“The reality is, we have had the election. The key takeaway is voters who voted for Mr Kenyon at local elections and other Reform councillors, some of them decided – in order to guarantee that Keir Starmer, the most unpopular prime minister in living memory is ousted – they actually chose tactically to vote Andy Burnham. That is the key takeaway, whether you like it or not.”

“I do say to my own party: this is a final chance to change. This is what people said directly to me on the hundreds of doorsteps that I stood on. We must hear it, we must act upon it and we must get it right. There will be no second chance.”