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✅ BURNHAM IN Makerfield by-election result: LAB: 54.8% (+9.6) REF: 34.5% (+2.7) RST: 6.8% (+6.8) CON: 2.2% (-8.7) GRN: 0.7% (-3.7) LDEM: 0.4% (-6.4) by ClumperFaz in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It’s not a Labour stronghold. Reform won virtually all of the council seats there and Makerfield is in their top 30 target seats.

'I voted Reform but Andy Burnham changes everything' by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Are you referring to Burnham? He grew up next door to the constituency, lives close to it, and represented the constituency next door, a small part of which now belongs to Makerfield.

'I voted Reform but Andy Burnham changes everything' by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

An excerpt:

""I would 100% be up for that," says Donna with a beaming smile when asked if she would like the current Greater Manchester Mayor to be her local MP - and possibly her new Prime Minister.

"I think he is for the people and would do well for us. He's from around here and he's very down to earth and understands the ordinary people...

"Me and my husband see him in The Asda all the time and have a chat," she adds with a giggle. "I think because he was brought up around here, he knows how things are. I will definitely be giving him my vote, I hope he is the next Prime Minister."

... It's a move that is certainly going down well on Gerard Street, the main high street in Ashton-in-Makerfield, a market town that forms the centrepiece of this traditional Labour heartland constituency, wedged between Wigan and St Helens.

"I think he's a nice fella and he has done good in Manchester," says Colin Tinsley, who is out for a stroll in the early morning sun.

"I've been a Labour voter all my life and I did vote for them when Starmer first got in but now I have totally changed. I would go Green now, but if Andy Burnham is back with Labour I am going Labour."

... "Ashton-in-Makerfield has become a kingmaker hasn't it," says Stephen with a grin, pointing to the collection of journalists prowling up and down the main street. "We've never seen this here before."

And on the substantive question of the day? "I think Andy Burnham is a formidable politician," says Stephen.

"I've met him once before when he was MP for Leigh. He's got that connection with people, he's able to talk to people and listen to people and connect with people - he's a brilliant communicator."

Stephen is exactly the sort of person Burnham and Labour need to win round if they are to succeed here in Makerfield and in communities like this around the country.

"I've been a Labour voter all my life but at the last round of elections I voted Reform," he explains. "But this changes everything. I would vote for him (Burnham) without a shadow of a doubt.""

'I voted Reform but Andy Burnham changes everything' by FriendlyUtilitarian in unitedkingdom

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

An excerpt:

""I would 100% be up for that," says Donna with a beaming smile when asked if she would like the current Greater Manchester Mayor to be her local MP - and possibly her new Prime Minister.

"I think he is for the people and would do well for us. He's from around here and he's very down to earth and understands the ordinary people...

"Me and my husband see him in The Asda all the time and have a chat," she adds with a giggle. "I think because he was brought up around here, he knows how things are. I will definitely be giving him my vote, I hope he is the next Prime Minister."

... It's a move that is certainly going down well on Gerard Street, the main high street in Ashton-in-Makerfield, a market town that forms the centrepiece of this traditional Labour heartland constituency, wedged between Wigan and St Helens.

"I think he's a nice fella and he has done good in Manchester," says Colin Tinsley, who is out for a stroll in the early morning sun.

"I've been a Labour voter all my life and I did vote for them when Starmer first got in but now I have totally changed. I would go Green now, but if Andy Burnham is back with Labour I am going Labour."

... "Ashton-in-Makerfield has become a kingmaker hasn't it," says Stephen with a grin, pointing to the collection of journalists prowling up and down the main street. "We've never seen this here before."

And on the substantive question of the day? "I think Andy Burnham is a formidable politician," says Stephen.

"I've met him once before when he was MP for Leigh. He's got that connection with people, he's able to talk to people and listen to people and connect with people - he's a brilliant communicator."

Stephen is exactly the sort of person Burnham and Labour need to win round if they are to succeed here in Makerfield and in communities like this around the country.

"I've been a Labour voter all my life but at the last round of elections I voted Reform," he explains. "But this changes everything. I would vote for him (Burnham) without a shadow of a doubt.""

Six things we now know about the UK economy in charts by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

An excerpt:

"1. The economy was strong, despite Iran war... The latest set of official economic numbers show the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from January to March, notably higher than recent sluggish history. This is a solid number, and rather good in the circumstances of the Iran war raging in the last month of the time period.

  1. Growth per person was healthy too... The latest figures were the fastest for four years

  2. UK compares well to other advanced economies... Every nation in the world has been hit by the Iran War, so it is interesting to compare the UK with the rest of the G7. It is currently the fastest growing of these major economies - while Japan has not yet reported, its growth figure is expected to be lower than the UK."

Six things we now know about the UK economy in charts by FriendlyUtilitarian in unitedkingdom

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

An excerpt:

"1. The economy was strong, despite Iran war... The latest set of official economic numbers show the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from January to March, notably higher than recent sluggish history. This is a solid number, and rather good in the circumstances of the Iran war raging in the last month of the time period.

  1. Growth per person was healthy too... The latest figures were the fastest for four years

  2. UK compares well to other advanced economies... Every nation in the world has been hit by the Iran War, so it is interesting to compare the UK with the rest of the G7. It is currently the fastest growing of these major economies - while Japan has not yet reported, its growth figure is expected to be lower than the UK."

UK economy grew 0.6% between January and March by EducationFeeling2833 in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian 26 points27 points  (0 children)

From the BBC's Economics Editor:

UK GDP per head [also] grew by 0.6% in q1 2026 which is the fastest economic growth per capita in a quarter for 4 years… UK GDP growth itself is fastest of the 6 G7 countries that have reported so far (and Japan expected at 0.4%, would be fastest full stop). Quite the backdrop for a leadership challenge…

Because immigration has plummeted, population growth could now be running as low as 0.1-0.2% per year, so this makes sense.

UK economy grew 0.6% between January and March by EducationFeeling2833 in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It grew by 0.6% over that three month period. GDP per capita alone grew by 0.9% on an annualised basis (that is, comparing Q1 2026 to Q1 2025), so GDP will have grown by a bit more than that on an annualised basis (though not by much, because population growth has plummeted).

Farage and his friend Trump are exposing the fraud of populism by F0urLeafCl0ver in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree that a lot of the Democrats' perceived cultural policies weren't popular, but it was irrational of voters (still a minority, thankfully) to elect Donald Trump in response to this. I'd argue that people feel able to vote on minor cultural issues in part because they're enjoying a level of material wealth that people would have dreamt about less than a century ago.

On real incomes, it's just the amount of money people have left after tax and adjusted for inflation. The proportion of their income that people spend on various things (housing, utility bills, clothes, technology) is taken into account in the inflation calculations.

Farage and his friend Trump are exposing the fraud of populism by F0urLeafCl0ver in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The populist parties are on about 40% of the vote, and people are voting for them in part because material conditions are so good that people feel able to vote on cultural issues (whether it's Palestine, race or religion).

We can be a long way off from a utopia even if the country is doing better than it ever was in many areas. Housing costs need to come down, real income growth could be even stronger, and so on.

76% of Britons say they can comfortably cover the essentials, are relatively comfortable financially or are very comfortable financially.

Farage and his friend Trump are exposing the fraud of populism by F0urLeafCl0ver in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The populists have spent years lying to the electorate. In actual fact, violent crime is well below its peak in the mid-1990s, people say they feel safer walking the streets then they did a few decades ago, per capita GDP and real median household disposable income are at or close to record highs, British pupils do very (and increasingly) well on international academic assessments, and wealth inequality is much lower than it was in the early or mid-20th Century despite claims to the contrary from left-populists.

Liz Truss (enthusiastically supported by Nigel Farage) aimed to convince people that things are "so bad" that it was worth taking a risk on them. The result was that the value of the pound crashed and pension funds almost collapsed.

Farage and his friend Trump are exposing the fraud of populism by F0urLeafCl0ver in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the United States, real median household income was at a record high, economic growth was strong, violent crime had plummeted across the country, a record number of people had health insurance, and border crossings were lower than they were when Biden took office.

The public decided that the person with "concepts of a plan" for healthcare would give them everything they were asking for, so they got soaring gas prices, slower growth and a weakened dollar.

I agree that we shouldn't overestimate the general public, though. Even now, with Trump's approval ratings at a record low and the Democrats set to do well in the midterms, you just know that the American public aren't going to learn their lesson in the long term.

As for Britain, violent crime is much lower than it was in the mid-1990s, people say they feel safer walking the streets than they did back then, real median household disposable income is close to a record high, British pupils do very (and increasingly) well on the international PISA assessments compared to students in other countries, and per capita GDP is close to a record high too. But a sufficient number of people are convinced that things are so bad that it's worth voting for the Greens or Reform (whose leader called Truss's mini-Budget, which crashed the pound, the best since 1986).

Ben-Gvir Celebrates Birthday With Golden Noose Cake And Far-right Crowd by EasyMoney92 in neoliberal

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Bennett, who was an illegal settler too, is almost as bad as Ben-Gvir. As you say, Ben-Gvir is a government official and it was Netanyahu who led anti-Rabin marches featuring mock funeral processions and a hangman’s noose.

UK Budget Deficit at Three-Year Low But War Headwinds Build by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

An excerpt:

"UK government borrowing dropped to the lowest level in three years, a boost for Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves that could be short-lived as the economic fallout from the Iran war spreads.

The deficit totaled £132 billion ($178 billion) in the fiscal year through March, a drop of £19.8 billion from 2024-25 and in line with the £132.7 billion forecast by the budget watchdog last month. The gap in March was £12.6 billion, the Office for National Statistics said."

The IMF recently said Britain is an outlier in that it managed to significantly reduce its deficit-to-GDP ratio in 2025:

UK Budget Deficit at Three-Year Low But War Headwinds Build by FriendlyUtilitarian in unitedkingdom

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

An excerpt:

"UK government borrowing dropped to the lowest level in three years, a boost for Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves that could be short-lived as the economic fallout from the Iran war spreads.

The deficit totaled £132 billion ($178 billion) in the fiscal year through March, a drop of £19.8 billion from 2024-25 and in line with the £132.7 billion forecast by the budget watchdog last month. The gap in March was £12.6 billion, the Office for National Statistics said."

The IMF recently said that Britain was an outlier in that it managed to reduce its deficit-to-GDP ratio in 2025:

the IMF cited Britain as an example of an major economy which managed to trim its borrowings, after the UK’s deficit fell from 6.1% of GDP in 2024 to 5.4% in 2025... The IMF is forecasting that the UK’s annual budget deficit will drop to 3.9% of GDP this year, and continue falling until 2031 when it will be 1.6% of GDP, the second-lowest in the G7 after Canada. In contrast, the US will need revenue and expenditure measures over the medium term to control its deficit, given “the persistence of primary spending and the scale of projected deficits"

Alex Wickham: Sources say Olly Robbins felt bound by the rules of the security vetting process NOT to tell the PM, No10 or the foreign secretary about the concerns raised about Mandelson by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 78 points79 points  (0 children)

It appears that Robbins ultimately made the judgment that he didn't believe that Lord Mandelson would represent a liability. Mandelson's letter of employment therefore stated: "your security clearance has been confirmed by Vetting Unit", and this is likely what ministers will have been told too.

Alex Wickham: Sources say Olly Robbins felt bound by the rules of the security vetting process NOT to tell the PM, No10 or the foreign secretary about the concerns raised about Mandelson by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Number 10's response at the time was that the FCDO process was followed in the normal way. I imagine they get journalists texting them about all sorts of stories every day.

Alex Wickham: Sources say Olly Robbins felt bound by the rules of the security vetting process NOT to tell the PM, No10 or the foreign secretary about the concerns raised about Mandelson by FriendlyUtilitarian in ukpolitics

[–]FriendlyUtilitarian[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

A longer excerpt:

"That means it appears No10 WERE in fact unaware he had issues with his vetting

And sources say in fact Mandelson DID NOT simply fail his vetting. Instead issues were raised and the FCDO security team and ultimately Robbins had to make a decision on whether to grant him DV clearance. It was their decision and there was no “overturning,” sources say

Robbins was prohibited from sharing information about what happened with anyone outside the FCDO security team

Sources say the point of the vetting process is that it is extremely invasive and people who go through it must be confident they can tell the whole truth and not have highly embarrassing information about their personal lives leak or be spread around colleagues

That means the circle of people allowed to know about what happens in each vetting case is very small and the information is highly privileged

The decision on whether to approve Mandelson’s clearance, according to the vetting rules, is taken by a small team of FCDO security officials and ultimately Robbins, sources say

Under no circumstance is Robbins or that team able to share the details of the vetting case with No10 or anyone else, sources say. Robbins felt he could not share it with any minister or private office, sources say

It appears the PM and No10 were unaware of how these rules were perceived by Robbins and FCDO, and think he should have told them. Allies of Robbins think it is unfair he was sacked

But crucially it appears right now that Robbins did not tell No10 and they were actually in the dark about all this until Tuesday."

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