Reform UK unveils candidate to challenge Andy Burnham in by-election

Burnham tells Makerfield voters in video: I’ll reverse Thatcher’s legacy

Last week’s speeches by ​both Starmer and King Charles III underscored this government's greatest flaw: a diffuse economic programme spanning pledges to seek alignment with the European Union, invest in rail, fight climate change and nationalise steel production.

With UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer under pressure from within his own party to announce his resignation, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has announced an ambitious plan of his own – to win a parliamentary seat in the northern English town Ashton-in-Makerfield.

Having enraged its natural voters – many of whom have flocked to the Greens – Labour MPs have clambered on to a lifeboat named Andy Burnham.