Makerfield: We Lost the Vote, But Not the Argument
What I heard on the doors
The line that stuck with me came from a lifelong Labour voters: Burnham was Labour’s last chance. Not their best chance. Their last one, we’ll switch to Reform if Burnham didn’t deliver, we like what Reform stands for but wanted to see Burnham get a shot, if it doesn’t work the Labour party is dead!
That summed up the mood. People weren’t voting Labour out of love. They were giving the party one final go, and they told us so.
What struck me was how few people slammed the door. Plenty of Labour voters were happy to talk, and more than a few said they agreed with us on immigration, the cost of living and the state of their high street. They just weren’t ready to make the jump yet.
The numbers behind the smiles
We didn’t win. Burnham took 54.8% and our candidate Robert Kenyon took 34.5%. But look closer. Robert won 15,696 votes, up from 12,803 at the 2024 general election. Our vote went up even when a would-be Prime Minister was on the ballot.
And only six weeks earlier, at the Wigan council elections, Reform won 24 of the 25 seats up for grabs. Labour won none. That’s not a party in retreat round there. That’s a party building foundations.
The best bit: the people
What I’ll remember most is the company. I knocked doors alongside Reform voters from all over the country, councillors from Wakefield, Leicestershire, Essex and Kent, all giving up their time to help in a seat hundreds of miles from home for some of us.
Comparing notes over a brew between streets, it was clear we’re all facing the same things: stretched budgets, waste to root out, residents who want straight answers. Swapping ideas with people actually doing the job in other counties is worth more than any training course. I came home with a notebook full of them and a few new friends.
That’s what a movement feels like. Not a head office telling you what to do. Ordinary people from Yorkshire to Kent turning up on a wet street in Greater Manchester because they believe in something.
Last chance saloon
Makerfield gave Burnham his seat, and Labour got their last chance. If he delivers, fair play. If he doesn’t, those Labour voters told us where they’re heading next.
We’ll be ready. Same team, same doors, same smiles.
