The Makerfield by-election turned out to be an emphatic win for Labour’s Andy Burnham. What really happened here was: “Vote Burnham, get Starmer out”, with Burnham exploiting the unpopularity of his own party’s prime minister and using Makerfield as a stepping stone to challenge Keir Starmer.
Of course, we won the local elections in May with the campaign message: “Vote Reform - Get Starmer Out”, so we were somewhat hoist with our own petard in Makerfield. As for the Reform vote share, I thought we would get 18,000 votes, but we got just shy of 16,000. I am disappointed by that, no question about it.
But I would say this: there are a couple of thousand decent, patriotic voters there who want Labour out and would normally have voted Reform UK, but voted Restore instead. And I would say directly to them: we are the challenger party to the left in this country and the only party who can defeat the political establishment. I would urge them to think again.
Everybody now has to realise that the next election will be an existential fight between Reform UK and Labour. The Makerfield result proves it - only one party can take on Labour and that is Reform UK.
The stakes are high. Burnham’s promise of “change” will quickly prove hollow. I predict we will have a general election in the coming months or next year. We are preparing for that moment if it comes.
As for the Conservatives, they lost their deposit again in Makerfield, winning just two per cent of the vote, as they did in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. They are no longer a serious national party.
The Conservatives did take a seat from the SNP in Aberdeen South last night, the first Scottish by-election they have won in over 50 years. The Tories won there by talking a lot about the importance of North Sea oil and gas industries. The irony is that it was 14 years of Conservative government that imposed mad Net Zero targets and destroyed investment in the North Sea. They are responsible for the destruction of our oil and gas industries.
In Scotland overall, our brilliant result in May’s elections to the Scottish Parliament, where we came second and trounced the Tories who finished fifth, shows that Reform UK is the only party on the right that can truly take on the SNP.
But in the north of England, the Midlands, South Wales and many other areas, the Conservatives have collapsed. Winning two per cent in successive parliamentary by-elections confirms that they have no chance of winning the next general election.
Whatever the feeling of disappointment on Friday morning, the fact is that Reform UK remains the only national party on the centre right who can win - and the only force for real change in Britain.
Of course, we won the local elections in May with the campaign message: “Vote Reform - Get Starmer Out”, so we were somewhat hoist with our own petard in Makerfield. As for the Reform vote share, I thought we would get 18,000 votes, but we got just shy of 16,000. I am disappointed by that, no question about it.
But I would say this: there are a couple of thousand decent, patriotic voters there who want Labour out and would normally have voted Reform UK, but voted Restore instead. And I would say directly to them: we are the challenger party to the left in this country and the only party who can defeat the political establishment. I would urge them to think again.
Everybody now has to realise that the next election will be an existential fight between Reform UK and Labour. The Makerfield result proves it - only one party can take on Labour and that is Reform UK.
The stakes are high. Burnham’s promise of “change” will quickly prove hollow. I predict we will have a general election in the coming months or next year. We are preparing for that moment if it comes.
As for the Conservatives, they lost their deposit again in Makerfield, winning just two per cent of the vote, as they did in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. They are no longer a serious national party.
The Conservatives did take a seat from the SNP in Aberdeen South last night, the first Scottish by-election they have won in over 50 years. The Tories won there by talking a lot about the importance of North Sea oil and gas industries. The irony is that it was 14 years of Conservative government that imposed mad Net Zero targets and destroyed investment in the North Sea. They are responsible for the destruction of our oil and gas industries.
In Scotland overall, our brilliant result in May’s elections to the Scottish Parliament, where we came second and trounced the Tories who finished fifth, shows that Reform UK is the only party on the right that can truly take on the SNP.
But in the north of England, the Midlands, South Wales and many other areas, the Conservatives have collapsed. Winning two per cent in successive parliamentary by-elections confirms that they have no chance of winning the next general election.
Whatever the feeling of disappointment on Friday morning, the fact is that Reform UK remains the only national party on the centre right who can win - and the only force for real change in Britain.
