THE GUARDIAN: Greater Manchester mayor says result represents Labour’s ‘final chance to change’, after soundly beating Reform UK and Restore Britain
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.
In his victory speech, Burnham said the result “could be a turning point” and that people had “voted for change, they have voted for more power for the north and everywhere forgotten by Westminster”. » | Josh Halliday | North of England editor | Friday, June 19, 2026
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