Andy Burnham wins huge majority in Makerfield byelection, paving way for Starmer leadership challenge

The Guardian ^ | June 19, 2026 | UK elections

[KingofZion]

Andy Burnham has won the crucial Makerfield byelection by a huge majority, paving the way for a challenge to Keir Starmer’s premiership.

The Greater Manchester mayor beat the Reform UK candidate, Robert Kenyon, by 9,231 votes, and the new hardline Restore Britain party came a distant third.

Labour won 54% of the vote to Reform UK’s 35%, while Restore Britain secured 7%. Turnout was 58.75%, six percentage points up on the general election, with 45,510 votes cast.

[KingofZion]

Chop chop, Sir Kier

[Celtic Conservative]

Deck Chairs, Titanic, yada yada...

CC

[paulcissa]

Yep, this. Move over and pass me the privilege. Rinse & repeat.

[Leaning Right]

> Labour won 54% of the vote <

So Reform and Restore split the opposition vote, and it didn’t matter one bit.

I guess the voters of Makerfield haven’t felt enough pain yet.
But they will, eventually. Might be too late by then.

[JoeVortex]

"I guess the voters of Makerfield haven’t felt enough pain yet."

Yup. I just did a DuckDuckGo search on "Makerfield, England demographics". The AI Search Assistant came back with this:

"Makerfield has a population of approximately 105,450 as of 2024, with a majority identifying as English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, or British (94.49%). The area features a working-class demographic with a higher-than-average home ownership rate and lower levels of deprivation compared to neighboring towns."

Makerfield was chosen for precisely this reason. A back room deal was cut to get the current MP to resign giving Andy Burnham the opportunity to run.

[Joe Boucher]

Hey U.K.,get this mo Kier the hell out.

[DeplorableTrumpSupporter]

Looking at the Demographics, it must be a rich area, which means they aren’t affected by the economy or anything the globalists do...

[JohnBovenmyer]

Burnham’s labour friends identified a district, out of their current 100s held, they thought they couldn’t lose. Then convinced its current holder to resign and thus let Burnham run for it. Would have been amazing had he not won. Winning just 55% in such a selected district should be considered disappointing, not a feather in their cap.