Timetable of what happens now and the date a by-election could be held in Makerfield
Andy Burnham has confirmed he intends to stand in the Makerfield by-election after it was announced the seat would become available. Labour MP Josh Simons said on Thursday night that he would intend to step aside to allow Mr Burnham a potential route back to Parliament - and possibly to lead a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister.
It means there will now be a by-election where voters in the constituency will be asked to choose a new MP - just two years on from the last general election. In order for the election to take place a process must first be followed in the House of Commons. By convention, the Labour Chief Whip will start the process by formally asking Parliament to start the election process - this is called moving the writ.
Once the writ is moved, the by-election must take place between 21 and 27 working days later - with by-elections usually held on a Thursday. This means that if a writ is issued in the coming days, we could potentially see an election as early as Thursday, June 18, or June 25. A by-election was held in in Gorton and Denton earlier this year after Labour Andrew Gwynne announced he was standing down.
He made the announcement on January 22 with the by-election held 35 laters on Thursday, February 26. Mr Burnham was previously blocked by the National Executive Committee from standing as Labour’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, which was won by the Green Party. Makerfield has been held by Labour continuously since the constituency was created in 1983 and Mr Simons won it with a majority of around 5,000 in 2024.
But Reform UK could pose a threat, as analysis of the local election results from May 7 this year show that of the 10 wards contested on Wigan Council that fall within the parliamentary constituency of Makerfield, either wholly or partially, Reform candidates won every single one of them. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform, said: “We look forward to the contest and we will throw absolutely everything at it. ”
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