The subtext of the Makerfield byelection became the text Thursday night Question time special after Andy Burnham confirmed he would seek to become Labor leader and Prime Minister if he succeeds in re-entering the House of Commons on June 18.
“If I get your support, I’d be looking to represent you at the highest level,” he said in response to a question about halfway through the program, “I think Wes Streeting seems to have launched a leadership race, so if that’s going on, I’d be looking to join him. But I’d have to persuade members of the Parliamentary Labor Party to do the same.”
Of course, this was clearly the reason for Burnham’s push for a parliamentary term. Earlier in the program he had gently nodded as audience members attacked Keir Starmer’s record as Prime Minister and said it was time for a change. But it was remarkable to hear it so clearly, as the assembled forces of the Labor Party descend on Wigan to campaign for Burnham: this is a slow-motion coup against the sitting Prime Minister.
Burnham’s comments even prompted a response from Number 10 before the program ended: “The Labor Party has a process to challenge a leader and it hasn’t started. The Prime Minister will not walk away from the mandate she was given just two years ago to build a stronger and fairer Britain.”
UK reform candidate Robert Kenyon had a tough time when confronted about his landmark comments on women’s rights. “I hold my hands up, I’ve made mistakes,” he said.
Kenyon tried to reclaim the initiative by attacking “career politicians” and pitted Wigan against Greater Manchester’s Burnham fiefdom, saying “while Manchester thrives, we are struggling to survive in Wigan”. He said about the early elections that he did not want to “use them as a stepping stone”. One audience member, referring to his social media outing, said “I’d rather have a career politician than a sexist plumber.”
It wasn’t certain that Kenyon would appear on the program when the notion of a domestic election special was first floated, but he eventually agreed. He was locked up with senior Reform figures in preparation for this appearance for hours on Thursday.
He didn’t make any big mistakes, but he’s definitely an underachieving performer compared to Burnham (at one point, he was jeered by the audience when he said Reform’s policy of hiring 30,000 new police officers was beyond his understanding as a local by-election candidate).
Burnham was not overly partisan, but he criticized Nigel Farage’s response to the Henry Nowak affair, saying the reform leader’s appeal for “pure, cold fury” reminded him of US politics and should be avoided in Britain.
The mayor’s title was largely unchanged since he first spoke to our editor Tom McTague for his Manchesterism program in September. “As mayor of Greater Manchester, I have pioneered a new form of politics,” he said.
There are still two weeks until polling day, but this may be the most hyped result of the campaign and Burnham came out of it without a scratch.
(Further reading: What Makerfield believes)
