Makerfield by-election enters final campaign push amid Labour leadership stakes
Candidates in the Makerfield by-election are making their final appeals to voters as campaigning enters its last phase before Thursday's poll. The contest has taken on national significance because Labour candidate Andy Burnham is expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the party leadership if he wins the seat and returns to Westminster. Reform UK's Robert Kenyon, a plumber and local councillor, is seen as Burnham's main rival in the constituency.
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The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Makerfield MP Josh Simons, who stood down to make way for Burnham's attempt to win the seat. Burnham, who is Greater Manchester mayor, has been emphasising his local roots and has promised to make Westminster work for Makerfield and similar communities. He is due to address supporters at an eve-of-poll rally later, while the prime minister has said a leadership contest would be bad for the country and that he would fight any challenge.
The race is being watched closely because it could affect the balance of power inside Labour as well as the wider question of who could become the next prime minister. The few opinion polls carried out in the constituency so far suggest Burnham is ahead, but the contest is expected to be tight. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also been campaigning in the seat, knocking on doors in support of Kenyon as the four-week campaign reaches its climax.
Kenyon has tried to present himself as a local, working-class candidate with strong roots in the area. He has also faced criticism over past social media posts, including comments on Brexit, abortion and Ukraine. When challenged about those remarks, he said he was not a career politician and that people would feel listened to if he became MP.
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The seat has already shown signs of shifting political support. Reform won all seats in the area in recent local elections, and Kenyon finished second in the constituency at the 2024 general election. A new party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, Restore Britain, is also standing in its first by-election and has been polling a distant third, ahead of the Conservatives, Greens and Liberal Democrats.
What remains unclear is whether Burnham can convert his local profile into a parliamentary win and whether that would immediately trigger a leadership challenge inside Labour. The result will also show whether Reform can build on its recent local gains in the area. With polling day approaching, the main focus is on how voters respond to the competing claims of local representation and national political change.
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