Court & Crime Paused as We Bring You Live Makerfield By-Election Coverage

Voting has officially concluded in Makerfield, and the polls are closed, bringing a definitive end to an extraordinary campaign that will determine whether Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is able to return to parliament.

Triggered by the sudden resignation of former Labour MP Josh Simons in May, this unique contest was engineered specifically to provide a path back to Westminster for Burnham.

Because party rules dictate that any candidate for the Labour leadership must hold a seat in the House of Commons, a victory tonight is widely expected to act as the immediate launchpad for a monumental leadership challenge against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.  

This is, without a doubt, a by-election for the history books, carrying national implications that could fundamentally reshape the UK political landscape within days.

While local voters faced an unusually long ballot paper featuring 14 distinct choices—including satirical veterans like Count Binface—the race on the ground has boiled down to an intense, tight battle between Burnham and Reform UK's Robert Kenyon, a local plumber and councillor heavily backed on the trail by Nigel Farage.

As the ballot boxes are now delivered to The Edge Conference Centre in Wigan for the overnight count, political observers across the country are bracing for a declaration in the early hours of Friday morning that could trigger a swift and historic power struggle at the very top of government.

🔴 ANGELA RAYNOR IN MAKERFIELD

Angel Raynor has been spotted out campaigning for Andy Burnham in the Makerdield By Election today.

A resident in Makerfield has injected some light-hearted humor into today's high-stakes parliamentary by-election by opening a tongue-in-cheek "crisp polling station" right next to an official voting venue.

The mock ballot box invites local voters in Ashton-in-Makerfield to cast their chips for their favorite snacks, mirroring the intense regional political battle between Andy Burnham and his rivals with a sharp, potato-themed rivalry of its own.

The snack-based electorate is currently torn between the regional heavyweights, with Walkers Ready Salted representing the carefully engineered establishment choice, while Flame Grilled Steak McCoy's mounts a thick-cut populist challenge across the Greater Manchester wards.

Organizers report high turnout at the independent snack crate, though controversy has already hit the ballot after a formal dispute was lodged questioning whether Hula Hoops constitute a synthetic distortion of a traditional single-tuber democracy.

🔴 REFORM FURY OVER 'MUSLIMS FOR REFORM' VAN STUNT

Reform UK has reacted with anger following the appearance of a campaign van displaying the slogan "Muslims for Reform" in what has been described as a political stunt in the Makerfield constituency.

The incident prompted a social media post from Reform UK's Rupert Lowe, which he was subsequently forced to delete.

Following the removal of the tweet, Lowe issued an explicit denial, insisting that he was not responsible for the vehicle or the underlying stunt.

Due to the lack of verified external source materials, further specific details regarding the exact nature of the deleted post, the individuals who financed the vehicle, or official party statements cannot be factually reported at this time.

🔴 POOCHES AT THE POLLS

It wasn’t just voters making their way to St Aidan’s Parish Centre in Winstanley this morning. A steady stream of four-legged companions also turned up, with several bringing their dogs along as Makerfield heads to the polls.

🔴 FARAGE JOINS KENYON AT THE POLLS

Nigel Farage joined Reform UK’s Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon as he arrived to cast his vote at St Aidan’s Parish Centre this morning. Afterwards, Kenyon couldn’t resist a dig at rival Andy Burnham, posting: “Just cast my vote. Something Andy Burnham cannot do” – a cheeky nod to the fact the Greater Manchester Mayor isn’t registered to vote in the constituency.

POLLS OPEN IN MAKERFIELD

Polling stations across Makerfield opened earlier, with voters now casting their ballots to choose their next MP. Polls remain open until 10pm.

This dynamic brings into question a much larger consequence.

If Restore keep going they will deliver Labour a win in any future general election by nationally splitting the vote on the right wing.

Stay here on our website and on X as we keep our rolling election coverage going until we get the final results later this evening.

Today serves as the ultimate acid test for Rupert Lowe and his Restore party.

If they perform worse than expected they could deliver a slim outside win to Reform.

That result would prevent Andy Burnham’s march to power and completely block his chances of becoming Prime Minister.

If Restore do well and stop Reform by splitting the vote on the right they will deliver Andy Burnham a win. That essentially makes them the King Makers by delivering him the job of Prime Minister.

In a bizarre turn of events a small constituency in the north is about to decide the future of the whole country.

The margins in Makerfield are so tight that as few as 2,500 voters could trigger a change of national government.

Their ballots hold a magnified significance and will directly dictate the path to Number 10.

LIVE MAKERFIELD BY-ELECTION COVERAGE

Were off, our live By-Election coverage starts here:

We normally report court and crime but today we are taking a short break to provide this by-election coverage.

We will be doing it in our usual light-hearted and satirical way to give our readers another point of view on the political machine.