The June 18 by-election in Makerfield, a constituency of former mining towns and villages in north-west England, has drawn national attention because of the stakes it carries for the UK’s political leadership. Labour’s candidate, Andy Burnham — who currently serves as Greater Manchester Mayor — has said publicly that if elected to Parliament, he would seek to enter any Labour leadership contest that follows Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as prime minister. The constituency, which covers parts of Wigan and surrounding areas, has elected Labour MPs for 120 years under previous boundaries, but Reform UK won every ward in the May local elections.
Burnham’s main challenger is Robert Kenyon, a local plumber standing for Reform UK, the insurgent party that claims the country is “broken.” A Reform UK source told BBC News that the slogan “has just cut through across the country,” adding that the party does not need to “keep pushing to instil in people’s minds” because “most people just know that Britain is broken.”
Voters in Makerfield described a range of grievances that shape their outlook. In the village of Bickershaw, Nicha Rowson, who lives near an illegal dump that has been piling up since late 2024, said the mess has attracted rats that damaged her kitchen ceiling. “The rats were a big thing,” she said. The dump remains despite a fire last summer and a criminal investigation. Sitting below what remained of her ceiling, Rowson said the situation made her feel that the authorities were not prioritizing residents.
In Platt Bridge, Dawn Royds recalled waking to blue flashing lights on New Year’s Day 2025 as floodwaters filled her home. She said she had been assured after a previous flood in 2015 that it was a one-off — “an act of God.” The government says it invested £2.65 billion in flood defenses nationwide since 2024, including £329,000 allocated to Platt Bridge and nearby areas for 2026-27. Royds said she is convinced it will happen again. “We are definitely broken,” she said.
Luke Tryl, executive director of the think tank More in Common, told BBC News the organization’s research found that “broken” is the most common word Britons use to describe the country. He said focus group participants in Makerfield described a sense that the country was not functioning properly. He noted a paradox: people have very high trust in their neighbors and often describe their local area as “good,” even as they judge the national picture as broken.
Economic change has been uneven in the constituency. While parts of the west — Ashton-in-Makerfield, Orrell, Winstanley — show relatively high wages and home ownership, the eastern areas of Platt Bridge, Abram and Hindley have experienced decline. The Lancashire coal pits that George Orwell wrote about in The Road to Wigan Pier have closed, replaced by warehouses and logistics hubs. Mark Webster, club secretary of the Ashton Bears amateur rugby league club, said the town has been “left to fester.” He argued that young people are funneled into low-skill warehouse work. “The only thing that anybody around here feels that our children are worthy of is working in warehousing,” he said. “Why have we not got computer-science jobs around there? If we’re looking at industrialisation, why have we not got military tech?”
On the campaign trail, Burnham has been having what the BBC described as “three simultaneous conversations” — with locals, with Labour MPs who could help make him prime minister, and with the nation. His team says he has knocked on every door in the constituency several times and is embracing difficult conversations with voters seeking change. Burnham has focused on his record as mayor, pointing to cheaper bus fares, and has linked his campaign to easing the cost of living.
Reform UK’s campaign has emphasized hyper-local issues such as opposing new housing developments on green-belt land. Other parties are also competing: Sarah Wakefield for the Greens, Conservative candidate Michael Winstanley, and Liberal Democrat Jake Austin. The Restore Britain party, led by former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe and supported online by Elon Musk, has also entered the race, seeking a referendum on bringing back the death penalty for murder.
Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, described the contest as “a proxy prime ministerial election in a sense.” A Burnham victory, he said, would signal that he can beat Reform UK in a tight race — an ability vital for any Labour leader. A Reform UK win would give the party more momentum and leave Labour’s leadership in disarray. “That’s why the stakes are so high,” Ford said.