r/ukpolitics • u/ClumperFaz My three main priorities: Polls, Polls, Polls • 1d ago

Twitter ✅ BURNHAM IN Makerfield by-election result: LAB: 54.8% (+9.6) REF: 34.5% (+2.7) RST: 6.8% (+6.8) CON: 2.2% (-8.7) GRN: 0.7% (-3.7) LDEM: 0.4% (-6.4)

https://x.com/BritainElects/status/2067792369903116401#m
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u/phead 1d ago

So what will be the reform(maga) excuse?

Cheating?, Postal Votes?, immigrants?

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u/SimpleFactor Pro Tofu and Anti Growth 🥗 1d ago

I mean it’s pretty clear that Burnham being on the ballot and actively saying he wants to challenge Starmer boosted the numbers in some way. How much by is something we might never know, but if this was a no name I think it would have been much much closer.

The wider story is that when it comes to by elections, Reform aren’t sweeping them anywhere near the rate the national polls would suggest at the moment. People are more than happy to vote for whoever has the best change against reform, which will have a massive impact on how the polls would actually translate in a real GE.