Burnham by-election live: Ex-Greater Manchester mayor vows ‘new path for Britain’ in Makerfield victory rally – UK Times

The Independent’s senior reporter Dan Haygarth reports from Makerfield:

Andy Burnham’s campaign material, though Labour red, had little reference to the party on them. And his victory in the Makerfield by-election seems to be more to do with him than the party he represents.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour were roundly rejected in Wigan at last month’s local elections but Mr Burnham has now pulled off a storming victory. When asked who they voted for, people that have spoken to The Independent in Ashton in Makerfield this morning, have largely said “I voted for Andy”.

This morning’s result feels like an endorsement of him, not necessarily a vote for Labour, and the party still has work to do to rehabilitate its image in what were once heartland areas like this.

The last time the Conservatives won a Westminster by-election in Scotland was in 1967 when they took Glasgow Pollok off Labour in a shock victory.

Now Kemi Badenoch has led her party to victory in Aberdeen South in what Tory insiders freely admit was a “heist” against the SNP who were defending the seat.

The Aberdeen South had become the “forgotten by-election” with all attention on Andy Burnham’s battle with Reform in Makerfield – but the Tories wanted it that way.

The party’s chief executive Lord Mark McInnes gave out strict instructions to MPs and others in the Tories to not talk up their opportunities in the seat and say it was “probably” an SNP victory.

They then quietly set out to make it a referendum on net zero and Ed Miliband and the SNP’s anti-oil and gas drilling policies in the North Sea.

Ms Badenoch visited three times without much fuss and deployed her shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho for the final PMQs with David Lammy to drive home the message.

Added to that was the fact that the Peter Murrell case over corruption in the SNP hung over the whole contest.

The result was a huge tactical vote in favour of the Tories giving them almost 50 per cent – a massive margin of victory which even the most optimistic person in CCHQ did not see coming.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson denied that there is a vacancy for the prime minister’s job amid pressure on him to step down following Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election.

He also reiterated that Sir Keir Starmer would fight any leadership challenge, saying he has “been crystal clear about that for some time now”.

It is understood the prime minister has passed his congratulations to Andy Burnham, but has not spoken to him directly.

Asked whether there is a vacancy for the PM’s job, his spokesperson said: “No, I think the prime minister has been very clear this morning. There’s more to do.”

And asked whether there are any preparations in the civil service for change at the top of government, the spokesperson added: “The civil service, as you would expect, is working on the delivery business of government, and that continues”

Labour is “obsessed” with internal party “drama”, Kemi Badenoch said, as she urged the UK Government to instead focus on issues such as energy and security.

The Conservative leader urged the Labour Government to back new drilling in the North Sea – calling for the controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank developments to be given the go-ahead.

This, she argued, would boost the UK’s national security, insisting the country needs to “drill our own oil in the North Sea, not take oil from Russia”.

She made the plea as she celebrated the Conservatives’ victory in the Aberdeen South by-election after the party dramatically won the seat from the SNP.

The Tories had focused their campaign on the future of the North Sea oil and gas industry – much of which is based in the city – making a “referendum” on the issued.

Speaking in Aberdeen on Friday with new MP Douglas Lumsden, Mrs Badenoch said: “What this means is that we have won that referendum on oil and gas.

“Aberdeen has sent a message to the Labour Government and to the SNP that we will not be ignored, Aberdeen will not be ignored, the centre will not be ignored.”

Our reporter Dan Haygarth reports from Ashton Town FC:

The North West of England has long been Labour’s heartlands, but May’s local elections saw voters reject Sir Keir Starmer’s party in their droves.

Reform UK was the main beneficiary in the borough of Wigan, where it took 24 seats – ten of those wards fall within the parliamentary constituency of Makerfield, either wholly or partly, and Reform candidates won every single one of them.

Today, as Andy Burnham addressed the media in the constituency, surrounded by supporters, following a resounding victory over Reform, he presented that victory as the blueprint for how Labour must respond.

The loudest cheers of the speech at Ashton Town FC came when Mr Burnham laid out how his constituency would come to represent the new path he believes the Labour Party must fallow.

“The word Makerfield in the future must be known as a byword for the change that came to British politics”, Mr Burnham said.

“This is the moment.We’ve been on a path for 40 years that simply hasn’t worked for people and places in this part of the world, and this now is the change moment.

“We have an opportunity to turn the tide, to make the country feel like it’s working again, to make people see that politics can make a positive difference, to make people feel hope again.”

There is a renewed sense of optimism among the party here, as if Labour has worked out how it counters the threat of the insurgent Reform.

Andy Burnham said he wanted to see changes from the Home Office to stop areas becoming “HMO Britain”.

He said: “These are the kind of changes that we need if we are to give hope to young people growing up in this part of the world.

“And yet, a change too, from the Home Office, I heard on so many doorsteps people’s concerns about the unfairness of the immigration system, that cut-price approach to procurement, that means areas like this can end up like HMO Britain.

“It’s not fair that they think that they can just operate like that and not hear the call of people here, the decent people here, who always will do the right thing, the compassionate thing, but not when it’s unfair in terms of the way places like this are treated.”

Read the latest analysis from our political editor David Maddox here:

With Labour MPs now demanding a coronation of Andy Burnham to replace Keir Starmer, the new MP for Makerfield has wasted little time in setting out his pitch to lead Labour and the government.

It can be summed up in three words – economy, industry and education.

In his morning victory rally, Mr Burnham has warned that his crushing win over Reform represents the “last chance to change” the Labour Party.

He set out his objectives as prime minister, insisting that Labour has to do something “to make life affordable” again and find a way to “give people more breathing space, so they can have a better life”.

“We need an economy that works for everybody,” he said, adding that there needs to be a “reindustrialisation” of Britain and major reform to education.

The momentum is all there and he is now articulating the vision if not yet the specifics. But while it may take a few days to launch a leadership bid, the contest is now fully underway.

Andy Burnham called for reindustrialisation and changes to the education system as he spoke to supporters after being elected Makerfield MP.

He said: “We do need an end to trickle-down economics, which didn’t trickle down very much at all to places like this.

“We want to see a new drive of reindustrialisation across the north of England, and indeed the rest of the country, and big change in Whitehall if that is to happen, and I’m talking about public procurement.

“It’s about time we started backing British business and British industry, so that we can reindustrialise places like this, and, yes, let’s change the education system so that young people growing up here have clear paths into that new industry.

“No more an education system dominated by the university route, but an education system that offers a path for everybody, academic and technical, in equal balance.

“That’s what we need if we are to change this.”

He said public procurement should be used to “get more work placements for people, a guarantee of a work placement for every 16 to 18 year old who wants one, the guarantee of an apprenticeship”.

In a speech to supporters, Andy Burnham has called for a “new path for Britain” and has vowed to work “relentlessly” as an MP to ensure change.

It is widely expected that the former Greater Manchester mayor will challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.

He said: “What is that change? You did talk about the need to change Labour in this campaign and we’ve got to take this moment to answer the challenges being laid down.

“I described it last night as a last chance to chance and I think that’s how people saw it.”

He added: “We’re going to take it. We are going to take that opportunity and lay out a new path for Britain.”

Referring to the division currently existing in the United States, he said: “The best things we can say about last night was there was a risk we’d see Britain and the politics of our country going down the path of greater darkness and division.

“We will not let that happen, we will bring people back together. I will be a member of parliament for everybody however they voted.”