Burnham batters Reform - next stop Number 10?
6/19/202642 min
Overnight in Makerfield, Andy Burnham showed how to win more than fifty percent of the vote on the Labour ticket. It was political smack for his party. A reminder that they still have the electoral chemistry to win decisively in tight races where Reform has stormed in the past.
Keir Starmer is pretending nothing big has happened - and said Reform were already on the wane. He is refusing to make way for Burnham - who is rather hoping for a coronation rather than a bloody contest. So who will fire the first shot'? And when? Is it just a matter of choreography? Or are things about to get messy?
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Keir Starmer· Soundbite0:34
Is turning on Reform, um, that they can't now win by-elections. They've reached, um, probably the peak of their support, and it's going down.
Lewis Goodall· Host0:43
He is furious with the way that Burnham is behaving. He doesn't believe that he's serious. He doesn't believe that his policies are serious. He doesn't believe that he's got a real program. He thinks he's just vibes.
Emily Maitlis· Host0:51
We found one person, weirdly, who liked Keir Starmer so much they were voting Reform.
Jon Sopel· Host0:56
[laughs] Force a contest where everyone is ripping each other apart, and for which I suspect the Labour Party will find very little forgiveness from the electorate.
Andy Burnham· Soundbite1:05
I, and I mean it, the word Makerfield in the future must be known as a byword for the change that came to British politics. This is the moment. We've been on a path for 40 years that simply hasn't worked for people and places in this part of the world, and this now is the change moment. We have an opportunity to turn the tide, to make the