Andy Burnham has vowed to ensure the voices of towns like Makerfield are heard after years of neglect from Westminster.
The Labour Leadership hopeful accused politicians of failing Northern communities for decades, and turning a “deaf ear” to the issues facing them. In a promise to Mirror readers, Mr Burnham pledged to fight for decent jobs, affordable homes, and safe streets for all, ahead of the seismic by-election on June 18th.
The Greater Manchester Mayor is facing off with Reform’s Robert Kenyon, who has repeatedly refused to apologise for derogatory remarks about women – including a vile slur about Carol Vorderman.
Writing in this newspaper, Mr Burnham said: “Almost a decade ago, I left Parliament to stand to be Mayor of Greater Manchester because I saw decisions being taken by a handful of people in London who couldn’t point to Makerfield on a map, let alone ever set foot here. I knew that it wasn’t in Westminster where things should be decided – but in Wigan, Winstanley and Worsley Mesnes.
“A decade later, I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to achieve here. A bus network brought under public control, working for people instead of profit. A fair deal for the north during the Covid-19 pandemic when the Conservatives tried to shortchange us. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Hillsborough families and demanding justice for the victims.
“But why should we have to fight every step of the way for these victories? Fight to get affordable and reliable public transport. Fight to get the financial support we were owed during lockdown. Fight to get justice for those denied it for decades.
“Westminster has refused to listen to towns like ours for decades. Successive governments turn a deaf ear to the things that matter most to us – decent jobs, affordable homes, safe streets and opportunities for our young people.
“If I’m fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to represent our community in next week’s election, I’ll make sure they hear us loud and clear.”
Speaking in Makerfield, he added: “This is the start of a serious effort to regain the ear of the country, to make politics work for people. Westminster politics has not been working properly for as long as I can remember.”
Mr Burnham described the contest as a race that could shape the path of British politics for years, warning a failure to defeat Reform could see the nation gripped by the divisive politics seen in the US.
He said: “I think the country is on a path that is quite a worrying one. My concern would be that we end up with the polarised politics of the United States.
“Things are getting harder, and politics is getting more polarised, and the path we’re on, if we are not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America, a polarised, poisonous politics where people in communities don’t work together any more.
“It feels like we are in a rut in terms of things not being fixed and issues not being dealt with which in the end can just create a sort of an increasingly divided politics. and the country struggles then to come back together.
“You could get to a point where in the streets of this constituency or elsewhere around the country you’ve got that division between people depending on how they vote. In America it’s very divided and we mustn’t go there. That’s not been the Britain that we know.
“We either carry on in the path towards bringing people together and unifying people, or we go down a path towards what becomes quite a polarised political debate.”
His comments come in a nightmare week for the PM, whose leadership faced yet more questions after the shock resignation of his Defence Secretary, John Healey. In a bombshell resignation letter, Mr Healey accused Mr Starmer of being “unable” and the Treasury of being “unwilling” to meet the funding levels required to keep the nation safe.
Responding to the resignation, Mr Burnham said: “It’s a changing world and one where we need not just to think about defence, but resilience more broadly, in our communities as well. That has got to be the first responsibility of any government.
“I will try my best to give this constituency as much power as I can possibly give it, as well as then looking at those foundational issues like defence that we need to rethink given the times that we are in.”
The resignation was yet another blow for Mr Starmer, who is already braced for a leadership challenge if Mr Burnham is successful in his Westminster bid. The former Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also announced plans to stand in any leadership contest.
Vowing to unite the party if elected, Mr Burnham said: “I think Labour has been too factional in recent years. I go back to the time I was in the last Labour government where you do have to call on all parts of the family to support the Labour Party in government.
“I think we’ve lost that in recent times. I get laughed at for being a team player, I supported all of the different Labour leaders.
“That’s my general approach to politics. I try to unify people, I work hard at building a good culture, people working together, people supporting each other. Labour urgently needs to rediscover that way of working.”
It comes as Steve Coogan backed Mr Burnham’s campaign, with the Alan Partridge star going doorknocking with the Labour leadership hopeful in Makerfield. He said: “The top down Westminster model of a kind of misguided Stalinist benevolence doesn’t work anymore, people want to be empowered.
“I blame the rise of the populist right squarely at the feet of the current Labour party, the Conservative party, and the neoliberal consensus that has existed for the last 40 years. The only way to address that is with some radical policies”.
While doorknocking, a local approached Mr Burnham to raise the issue of a homeless man who needed support, with the Labour candidate responding they had facilities, and he could get that sorted today.
In a sign of his status in the area, while knocking doors with the Hollywood A-lister, Mr Burnham was recognised when Mr Coogan wasn’t. One household said to the pair “Steve Coogan? I know the name”.
While the race is expected to be a battle between Reform and Labour, activists on the ground claimed Restore could be a massive factor in the seat. Saturday saw more than 1,000 supporters of Rupert Lowe’s party descend on the area. The latest Opinium poll showed Mr Burnham with a five point lead over Reform, but with Restore on seven per cent.
