Andy Burnham said hope was 'in the air' as he launched campaign for Makerfield by-election
Mr Burnham set out his connections to the local community as he launched his bid for Westminster
Andy Burnham said hope was “in the air” as he launched his campaign for the Makerfield by-election.
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At his campaign launch in the car park of a sports and social club in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Mr Burnham said: “This is not more of the same.
“This is a change by-election. Politics in this country, British politics, is tired. It needs a new script and over the next four weeks the people of Makerfield are going to write that script and it’s great that they’re going to get that chance.”
Among those in attendance at Andy Burnham’s campaign launch for the Makerfield by-election are Labour MPs Jonathan Reynolds, Kim Johnson, Barry Gardiner, Ian Byrne, Chris Webb and Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Also showing their support are Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotheram and interim leader of Welsh Labour Ken Skates.
He made his speech surrounded by avid supporters holding signs reading 'Vote Andy, For Us' and 'Vote Labour'. A large image of Mr Burnham's head appeared behind the Westminster hopeful.
Mr Burnham told LBC his priorities are "Cost of Living, Cost of Living, Cost of Living".
"The decisions of the 80s, deregulating and privatising everything, has left us today where people can't afford the basics. You've got an economy that works for the shareholders, but not for the average person," he said.
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He continued: "I'm going to reconnect with people. I've asked the team to knock on every door, listen to people, take on board what they're saying and then let's come back as the party that they once knew, a party solidly on the side of working class people in communities."
He told the crowd in a speech: “I love this place. But what I have inside is a burning sense of injustice that the proud communities of this place face a Westminster system that puts them at the bottom of the list when they should be at the top of the list.”
He said the by-election was a “clarion call for change”.
The former Greater Manchester Mayor called for change to the education and housing systems, saying the country needed the biggest programme of council house building since the Second World War.
He lamented that the price of an anytime return to London from Wigan North Western was £364, adding: “We need to use rail renationalisation to reduce those train fares and make them affordable to people again.
Mr Burnham commented on internal Labour Party politics, adding: “I know my own party needs to change. We need to be better than we have been.
“A vote for me in this by-election is a vote to change Labour."
He promised the voters of Makerfield would get “the party back they used to know”.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have announced Stockport councillor Jake Austin as their candidate for the Makerfield by-election.
Mr Austin was born in the constituency and contested the Greater Manchester mayoral election against Andy Burnham in 2024, coming sixth.
He said: “I’m thrilled to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Makerfield.
“Voters in Makerfield deserve so much more than the failing Labour Government or the divisive politics of Reform UK.
“We have a real opportunity to champion the issues that matter most to people: the cost of living, protecting our natural environment and supporting our local high streets and businesses.”
Chris Kennedy was announced as the Green Party's representative after 8am on Thursday morning but by 4:45pm it was confirmed he had pulled out for "personal and family reasons".
The Times later reported it had approached Mr Kennedy about a series of social media posts he had shared.
A Green Party spokesperson said: “These posts don’t reflect the views of The Green Party.
“We have spoken to Chris about these posts, and he has now deleted them. He apologises for the offence caused.”
According to The Times, an Instagram video shared by Mr Kennedy described the arrests of two men over the incident as “total bulls**t to keep the false flag flying”.
The paper says he also shared a post by a user named Hugh Anthony, a self-described “proud ethno-nationalist”, which said the response to the Golders Green arson attack in March made “no sense”.