"We’re all just normal people railing against politics"
5/26/202629 min
In the Makerfield by-election, Reform UK have put forward a local plumber in the hope of derailing Burnham’s push for power — but a string of deeply questionable old social media posts has left the campaign wobbling. Meanwhile, on Reform’s right flank, Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain party is threatening to split the vote after a Sunday Times poll put them on 7% — enough to potentially hand Labour the advantage.
Back in Downing Street, Rachel Reeves is machine-gunning her colleagues. The question is whether she genuinely believes she can survive in post under an Andy Burnham leadership.
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Lara Spirit, deputy political editor, The Sunday Times
Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness
Picture credit: Getty Images
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Speaker 20:14
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Patrick Maguire· Host0:44
[bright music] [upbeat music] I love this place. I love the people of this place.
Speaker 4· Soundbite0:54
You can't vet every single one of them. Are we confident that our qualified plumber, ex-army reservist, family man, and all-round good bloke is the right man?
Patrick Maguire· Host1:05
I think Burnham's the right man for the job. The big thing about him, he's honest. That was all we known as growing up. We had to vote Labour, but now it's completely changed.
Lara Spirit· Host1:16
Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of The State of It. I'm Lara Spirit, the deputy political editor of The Sunday Times.
Patrick Maguire· Host1:24
I'm Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator for The Times.
Lara Spirit· Host1:28
Before we get onto the