Farage blames Makerfield defeat on anti-Starmer votes

BBC ^ | June 19, 2026 | Paul Seddon

[Miami Rebel]

Nigel Farage says he is disappointed with Reform UK's performance in the Makerfield by-election, as he blamed his party's defeat on a desire among voters to eject Sir Keir Starmer from Downing Street.

The Reform leader claimed frustration with the embattled prime minister had driven Andy Burnham's "emphatic" Labour victory over his party's candidate, Rob Kenyon, who finished more than 9,000 votes behind.

He also conceded his party had also lost votes to right-wing rival Restore Britain, founded by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe, which finished third in a breakthrough night for the fledgling party.

He issued a plea for Restore voters to back Reform instead, as the main "challenger party to the left".

Reform had sought to defeat Burnham in the Makerfield seat, giving it a high-profile scalp to boost its credentials as the likely main opposition party to Labour at the next general election.

But Burnham increased Labour's majority over Reform in the constituency, in a rare feat for a candidate from the governing party.

The outgoing mayor of Greater Manchester is now expected to challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership and keys to No 10.

He would otherwise be barred from doing so without a seat in Parliament, making the Labour leadership a key issue in the contest in Makerfield, just south of Wigan, which has been held by the party for over a century.

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: britain; labor; reform

[KarlInOhio]

Labour had an absolute majority. If every other vote, including the Monster Raving Looney party, went to Reform, Labour would gave still won.

Copied from Wikipedia.

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Andy Burnham	24,927	54.8	+9.6
	Reform	Robert Kenyon	15,696	34.5	+2.7
	Restore	Rebecca Shepherd	3,111	6.8	New
	Conservative	Michael Winstanley	997	2.2	−8.7
	Green	Sarah Wakefield	308	0.7	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jake Austin	163	0.4	−6.4
	Count Binface Party	Count Binface	95	0.2	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	45	0.1	New
	Independent	John Dyer	37	0.1	New
	Rejoin EU	Peter Ward[e]	35	0.1	New
	Libertarian	Dan Clarke	18	0.04	New
	Climate	Ed Gemmell	18	0.04	New
	Independent	Robert Pownall	18	0.04	New
	Independent	Paul Gould	8	0.02	New
Rejected ballots			48	0.1
Turnout			45,524	58.8	+6.3
Registered electors			77,462
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+3.5

[Reverend Wright]

If Reform can’t even win a 97 % White seat, given everything that Labour and the “Conservatives” have done to Whites in the past, voters don’t see them as defending White interests and vote on other things.

Dump Fagage and Dump Reform !