Burnham was blackballed from standing in a by-election by Starmer loyalists (Image: Getty)
Andy Burham was offered up a sacrificial lamb last night as Labour heads to the electoral slaughterhouse. Again.
Josh Simons is so insignificant – he briefly served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital – that he quit as MP for Makerfield in Wigan.
This, theoretically, allows self-proclaimed King of the North Burnham a route back to Parliament and, perhaps, to being Prime Minister.
But this road spells electoral disaster.
The ham-fisted attempt to dethrone Starmer has been such a farce it should be named Carry On Keir.
In fact, it has been so clumsy, inept, and cack-handed, carry on he has.
Nigel Farage and Reform look set to be the beneficiaries of Labour’s incompetence (Image: Getty)
But so blinded by self importance and arrogance is Burnham that he appears unaware of one major obstacle: Nigel Farage.
Labour holds a majority of 5,399 in Makerfield: chicken feed.
And Reform UK snatched all eight wards at last week’s local elections.
Put simply, it’s a kamikaze mission. And that’s supposing he is allowed to stand.
Labour is, after all, ruled by its National Executive Committee governing body – a shady politburo stuffed full of Starmer stormtroopers. The decision about who contests this vacant seat rests with party stooges.
What a mess, but this continuing car crash is music to Farage’s ears.
The path to Downing Street for him has been made a lot easier thanks to Labour’s incessant incompetence and, latterly, the dithering of a carousel of pathetic MPs who don’t know what they stand for and, worse, who they back as leader.
So we now gear up for the 23rd by-election since May 6, 2021.
In the two held since Labour came to power in 2024 Reform has won one and finished second in the other.
Make no mistake Farage will throw the kitchen sink to snatch Makerfield and, if current form is anything to go by, humiliate Labour and banish Burnham to the fast filling dustbin of political failures.
And wouldn’t it be something if Burnham – banned by Starmer and his acolytes from contesting the south Manchester constituency of Gorton and Denton in February’s by-election – was binned in his own backyard.
This is the man who would be king (but lied to a city).
When re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor in 2024 he vowed: “I’m here for a full third term. I’m not planning to head back to Westminster any time soon.”
So why should anyone believe him now, especially after borrowing from the playbook of sanctimonious drivel in posting a misty-eyed message that said: “I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election.
“I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics.
“I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again.”
And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.
Makerfield is, at first blush, rock solid Labour territory and (until recently) considered one of the party’s safest seats in Britain.
In 2024 Simons got 18,202 votes. Reform’s Robert Kenyon got 12,803.
But this corner of the country is one deeply scarred by the grooming and rape gang scandals inextricably linked to Labour, a party that has failed Britain.
Burnham won’t get an easy ride, not least because Starmer and his calamitous chancellor Rachel Reeves have reduced this country to a basket case.
Burnham might like to paint himself as a messiah but it will take more than a sacrificial lamb to help him and Labour – the party of tax, borrow, and spend – out of a mess of its own making.
A party that Britain can believe in again? Ewe must be joking.
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