A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Makerfield took place on 18 June 2026 following the resignation of Josh Simons, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party. Simons resigned amid the ongoing Labour leadership crisis to allow Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, to stand for a seat in Parliament.
๐ By-Election Trigger and Date
On 14 May 2026, Simons announced that he would resign his seat in parliament in order to allow Andy Burnham to contest the by-election. Simons’ resignation was formalised on 18 May 2026, when he was appointed Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds.
The writ of election was moved in the House of Commons on 19 May 2026. A notice of election was published on 20 May 2026, confirming 18 June 2026 as the date for the vote, with nominations closing on 26 May.
๐๏ธ Candidate Selection and Background
The National Executive Committee of the Labour Party (NEC) voted to allow Burnham to stand in the seat, and certified him as Labour’s candidate for the seat. The NEC had previously blocked him from standing in the earlier 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election.
On 19 May, Burnham was confirmed as the candidate after no other names were put forward for selection by the NEC, thus bypassing the local party’s voting process. He stands on behalf of both the Labour and Co-operative parties under the Labour and Co-operative Party description.
๐ฅ Other Candidates
On 19 May, Robert Kenyon, a local plumber born in the constituency, was confirmed as Reform UK’s candidate. He was recently elected as the councillor for Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North on Wigan Council, and ran as a Reform UK candidate in Makerfield in the 2024 general election.
On 20 May, the Conservative Party announced that it had selected Michael Winstanley to stand as its candidate. On 22 May, the Liberal Democrats announced its candidate as Jake Austin, a councillor for Hazel Grove on Stockport Council.
The Greens announced Sarah Wakefield, a charity director and a councillor in Manchester City Council, as their new candidate on 26 May. Local businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd was confirmed on 18 May to be the candidate for Restore Britain.
๐ Constituency Profile
The Makerfield constituency contains the towns of Ashton-in-Makerfield and Hindley as well as other residential areas on the western outskirts of Greater Manchester. Considered part of the red wall of working-class areas in northern and central England that traditionally vote Labour, Makerfield has been a safe seat for the Labour Party since its creation in 1983.
Ninety-seven percent of the constituency’s residents are ethnically White, and 96% were born in the UK. The average household income is ยฃ38,810, below the average for Great Britain as a whole but slightly above that for North West England.
๐ Result and Context
Burnham won the by-election with almost 25,000 votes and a majority of over 9,200 votes. This was deemed an overperformance as polling projected that Burnham would only narrowly win due to the popularity of Reform UK and the emergence of Restore Britain.
Two other by-elections โ in Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry โ took place on the same day. This was the first by-election since Leyton in 1965 specifically triggered to provide a seat for a politician not currently in parliament.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Majority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Burnham | Labour and Co-operative | ~25,000 | 9,200+ |
| Robert Kenyon | Reform UK | N/A | N/A |
| Michael Winstanley | Conservative | N/A | N/A |
| Jake Austin | Liberal Democrats | N/A | N/A |