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  "path": "/2026/05/19/inside-makerfield-long-forgotten-area-now-centre-nations-attention-28435079/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-19T16:09:35.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "Politics",
    "Andy Burnham",
    "British Government",
    "Labour Party",
    "Reform UK",
    "Manchester",
    "Keir Starmer",
    "will indeed be running",
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    "check our news page",
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  "textContent": "The high street in Ashton-in-Makerfield, one of the main towns in the constituency (Picture: Gary Oakley/Getty Images)\n\nThe final pieces are falling into place for one of the most consequential by-elections in modern British history.\n\nNext month, the people of Makerfield – a constituency covering the area south of Wigan in Greater Manchester – will choose who they want to be their new MP.\n\nThe contest was triggered by the resignation of Josh Simons, who said explicitly he wanted to give Andy Burnham an opportunity to win a seat in the Commons and possibly launch a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.\n\nThis afternoon, it was confirmed that the Mayor of Greater Manchester will indeed be running as the Labour candidate.\n\nWe also now know the identity of the man likely to be his biggest threat: Robert Kenyon, a local plumber who is running for the second time as the candidate for Reform UK.\n\nBoth men have emphasised their community credentials. Burnham grew up a 20-minute drive away in the town of Culcheth, while Kenyon says he was born and bred within the constituency boundaries.\n\n##  Everything is changing, all the time\n\nCut through political noise and understand how the Westminster chaos actually affects your life with Metro's politics newsletter Alright, Gov? Sign up here.\n\nIn a speech yesterday, Burnham apologised to the area for ‘the circus that’s about to arrive in town and the inconvenience that will result’.\n\nBut he added: ‘I hope you feel it’s a good thing as well that the places that make up this constituency, long forgotten by national politics, finally are at the centre of the national debate.’\n\n## What you should know about Makersfield\n\nThe first thing is that ‘Makersfield’ is not a town, and never has been.\n\nIt is an area containing several settlements large and small – including a few that incorporate the name, such as Ashton-in-Makersfield and Ince-in-Makerfield.\n\nIf you were to draw a line on a map connecting Manchester and Liverpool city centres, Makersfield would be almost exactly in the middle and a little to the north.\n\nA hardware shop owner in Ashton-in-Makerfield paints his shop red (Picture: Gary Oakley/Getty Images)\n\nAt the time of the last general election, just over 100,000 people lived in the constituency and they were almost 97% white.\n\nThe child poverty rate was more than 5% lower than that for the broader north-west of England, but house prices were also lower than the average for the region.\n\nLike many other places in this part of England, Makerfield was once dominated by two industries: cotton and especially coal.\n\nBurnham has focused heavily on the impact of deindustrialisation in the area, saying Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s drained away ‘economic, social and political power’.\n\n## What are Makerfield’s politics?\n\nThis is a seat with strong, historic links to the Labour Party.\n\nIn fact, its residents voted Labour at the first opportunity in 1906, when the constituency was called Ince and the party was called the Labour Representation Committee.\n\nThey continued voting for the red rosette until 1983, when the constituency’s boundaries and name were changed. From then on, it was Makerfield rather than Ince that kept choosing Labour MPs.\n\nThere was never much of a threat to the party’s dominance until 2019, when Boris Johnson’s Conservatives came within 5,000 votes of taking the seat. This counted as a close call.\n\nMayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has been confirmed as Labour’s candidate (Picture: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)\n\nIn summer 2024, it was Reform UK that posed a threat to new Labour candidate Josh Simons. More people voted for Nigel Farage’s party in Makersfield than any other seat won by Labour.\n\nAs Sir Keir Starmer’s government has grown ever more unpopular, it has looked more like a dead cert that Reform would bag the constituency at the next election.\n\nBut Andy Burnham’s candidacy changes the calculations. Not only is he a popular mayor, he is also positioning himself in opposition to the Prime Minister.\n\nHis unspoken message to voters is: ‘Vote for me, and you’ll make sure Starmer is replaced by a strong northern voice.’\n\nFor Robert Kenyon and Reform, the spoils of victory are irresistible – demonstrating they can beat Labour’s most popular figure in the country on his doorstep, while also keeping an unpopular PM in power.\n\nReform UK announced its candidate Robert Kenyon on Tuesday (Picture: Reform UK)\n\nThey might be buoyed by the fact Makerfield voted 65% leave in the Brexit referendum, which took place almost exactly ten years before the constituency will go to the polls in June.\n\nLuke Tryl, the boss of pollster More in Common, says attitudes have shifted to the extent it would likely now narrowly vote to remain. However, the landscape that led to that high percentage – such as concern over levels of immigration – remains.\n\nHe said: ‘Andy Burnham definitely wants it to be Andy Burnham versus Reform, rather than Labour versus Reform.\n\n‘If it’s Labour versus Reform, Reform win. If it’s Andy Burnham versus Reform, it’s much closer.’\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Inside Makerfield: ‘Long forgotten’ area now at the centre of the nation’s attention"
}