Makerfield byelection: Andy Burnham says Labour has 'final chance to change' after huge win over Reform UK

[Celerity]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/18/makerfield-byelection-keir-starmer-andy-burnham-robert-kenyon-labour-leadership-reform-aberdeen-arbroath-uk-politics-latest-news-updates



Burnham said the vote against Labour at the local elections was “a loud cry for change”. He went on:

We have begun to answer that to that.

But I do say to my own party - this is a final chance to change.

This is what people said directly to me on the hundreds of doorsteps that I stood on.

We must hear it. We must act upon it, and we must get it right.

There will be no second chance, but it is a chance now, from this result tonight, to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, politics of the kind we’ve seen in the United States. We must now take this path and put this country back on the right path, and bring people back together and get things working properly again.

Full results of Makerfield byelection - with Labour on 55%, and Reform UK on 35%

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/18/makerfield-byelection-keir-starmer-andy-burnham-robert-kenyon-labour-leadership-reform-aberdeen-arbroath-uk-politics-latest-news-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6a34ab468f087fb1fe061ccf#block-6a34ab468f087fb1fe061ccf

Here are the Makerfield results in full from the Press Association.

Lab hold

Andy Burnham (Lab) 24,937 (54.82%, +9.62%)

Rob Kenyon (Reform) 15,696 (34.51%, +2.71%)

Rebecca Shepherd (Restore) 3,111 (6.84%)

Michael Winstanley (C) 997 (2.19%, -8.68%)

Sarah Wakefield (Green) 308 (0.68%, -3.73%)

Jake Austin (LD) 163 (0.36%, -6.43%)

Count Binface (Binface) 95 (0.21%)

Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 45 (0.10%)

John Dyer (Ind) 37 (0.08%)

Peter Ward (Rejoin) 35 (0.08%)

Dan Clarke (Libertarian) 18 (0.04%)

Ed Gemmell (Climate) 18 (0.04%)

Robert Pownall (Ind) 18 (0.04%)

Paul Gould (Ind) 8 (0.02%)

Lab maj 9,241 (20.32%)

3.45% swing Reform to Lab

Electorate 77,478; Turnout 45,486 (58.71%, +6.31%)

[Initech]

1. Can I get an explanation for those of us who have zero clue how British politics works?

Is this good or bad?

[Celerity]

2. Good

[Initech]

3. Cool!