Burnham “Change By-election”; Thinly Veiled Pitch for No 10
Andy Burnham formally launched his Makerfield by-election campaign today with what the Guardian describes as “a barely coded pitch for Downing Street”, saying a vote for him would be “a vote to change Labour”. Speaking at a community sports club car park in Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan, Burnham said: “This is a change by-election. British politics needs to change its tired old script and the people of Makerfield are helping us write one.” And: “I’m prepared to take that fight as high as I can go. I want to play whatever part I can in changing this party back to the party here people used to know, and the party that is solidly on the side of working-class community.”
In a question-and-answer session with media, Burnham committed publicly for the first time to a specific electoral-reform pledge: “I support electoral reform now. I know there are different ways you can do it, but I believe any move in that direction is going to be good, and I would want a commitment in the next Labour manifesto to introduce a proportional system.” The Guardian frames Burnham’s hoped-for return to Westminster, facilitated after Labour MP Josh Simons gave up the seat, as “likely to be followed by a challenge to Starmer, or moves to push him into stepping down, an idea Burnham did nothing to dispel”. The 18 June by-election remains a straight Labour-vs-Reform UK contest in a Reform-trending Wigan borough where Reform won 24 of 25 council seats at the 7 May local elections.