Voters in the Greater Manchester seat cast their ballots on Thursday, with the outcome closely watched for its potential impact on Sir Keir Starmer, Labour and the national political picture
The result of the Makerfield by-election, a contest widely viewed as a major test for Britain’s political parties, has been declared.
Voters in the Greater Manchester seat cast their ballots on Thursday, with the outcome closely watched for its potential impact on Sir Keir Starmer, Labour and the national political picture.
It was confirmed on Friday morning that the Labour Party and Andy Burnham secured victory with 24,927 votes – Reform and Rob Kenyon finished the night on 15,696 votes.
The by-election was called following the resignation of Labour MP Josh Simmons, who stepped aside to give Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham the opportunity to seek a return to Parliament.
Burnham, who had been blocked by Labour from contesting the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, which was won by the Green Party, entered the race as the clear favourite.
His main challenger was Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon, a plumber and Wigan councillor who had faced questions over historic social media posts.
In total there were 14 candidates contesting the seat.
Burnham previously served as MP for Leigh from 1997 to 2017, and was Culture Secretary and briefly Health Secretary under Gordon Brown.
He was elected Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, winning three terms.
Before polls opened, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was willing to offer Burnham a “big” job in his Government, should he win.
However Burnham is widely expected to challenge Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party, and seek to replace him in No 10.
The Makerfield poll was one of the three parliamentary by-elections taking place today, with voters in two Scottish constituencies also selecting new MPs.
The contests in Aberdeen South and the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry constituency were triggered following the election of local SNP MPs Stephen Flynn and Stephen Gethins to Holyrood last month.
They were won by the Conservatives in Aberdeen South and held by SNP in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.
The full list of candidates in the Makerfield by-election were (in alphabetical order by surname):
- Jake Austin, Liberal Democrats
- Count Binface, Count Binface Party
- Andy Burnham, Labour and Co-operative Party
- Dan Clarke, Libertarian Party
- John Dyer, Independent
- Ed Gemmell, Climate Party
- Paul Gould, Independent
- Alan ‘Howlin’ Laud Hope, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
- Robert Kenyon, Reform UK
- Robert Pownall, Independent
- Rebecca Shepherd, Restore Britain
- Sarah Wakefield, Green Party
- Peter Ward, Rejoin EU
- Michael Winstanley, Conservative Party

You must be logged in to post a comment Login