John Rentoul, chief political commentator – “The cat’s out the bag ... Andy is making this about No 10”However hard the BBC and some of the panellists pretended, it was all about Andy Burnham. Some of it was about Burnham versus Robert Kenyon, the Reform candidate, as they competed to present themselves as Westminster outsiders – “normal people” in Kenyon’s phrase – wanting to go “down to London” to give Makerfield a fair deal.Even that head-to-head was lop-sided, though, because of what Jake Austin, the Liberal Democratic candidate, said was the reason for the by-election, which is “about electing a prime minister by the back door”. Austin said this was “not the right way to be doing politics”, but what was interesting was that this divided the audience – some of them agreed, but most seemed to be quite happy to have their constituency used as a launch pad for the highest office.Burnham himself dodged the question twice with his usual formula of wanting to take it to the “highest possible” level – if he is lucky enough to be elected – but then he cracked and said that Wes Streeting seems to have started a leadership contest already and “I would seek to join it”. His supporters in the audience cheered even as he tried to qualify it by saying he would have to persuade MPs to nominate him.With that cat out of the bag, the two main candidates – the would-be prime minister and the plumber, the true outsider – could get on with discussing the main issue of the day, namely alleged two-tier policing. Kenyon went with public opinion, which thinks that the police are biased in favour of ethnic minorities, while Burnham went for the big tent, praising Michael Winstanley, the Conservative candidate, and Kemi Badenoch, his leader, for “speaking really well” on the subject.In the end, Burnham came across as a regular guy, admitted he was ambitious and didn’t make any mistakes. That made him the winner.Kate Devlin, Whitehall editor – “Both men appeared to be speaking to two different audiences”The headlines from this encounter will be that Andy Burnham finally confirmed he will challenge Keir Starmer for the keys to No 10. He could hardly deny it, as the people of Makerfield weigh up whether to vote for the man who will potentially be the country’s next prime minister. He managed to walk a difficult line between focusing on local issues and a wider vision for Britain. He also managed to neatly answer some difficult questions.In the wake of 18-year-old Henry Nowak’s death – the student was ignored by police officers when he told them he had been stabbed, and died while being arrested and handcuffed after his killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack – he pointed to his relationship with the local police chief, who, he said, wanted to “make sure the police were seen as neutral, serving all communities, and therefore I backed him”. He also said there was a case to "look again" at the carrying of knives for religious reasons. But he added “it needs a very careful debate”. Reform’s Robert Kenyon looked relaxed in his first outing on the national stage, but faced a difficult time from some members of the audience, including one who told him: "I'd rather have a career politician than a plumber who is a sexist". While both men are battling for the same votes, in the same seat, they appeared to be speaking to two different audiences. Andy Burnham was the clear winner tonight, but it will count for nothing if he fails to win this by-election.Sean O’Grady, associate editor – “Andy Burnham was unconvincing on every level ... poor old Makerfield”For me the “Great Makerfield Debate” was all over when a plainly exasperated woman in the audience declared: “I’d rather have a career politician than a sexist plumber” for her next MP. Me too. And, to avoid the ultimate catastrophe of Reform UK and Nigel Farage regaining lost momentum, I’d vote for Andy Burnham. Reluctantly. He was unconvincing on every level, notably when he said he’d left Westminster in 2017 so he could work for the people as mayor of Greater Manchester. In reality it was because he saw no future for himself under Jeremy Corbyn. He was, is, and always will be a careerist – and should admit it. As for Kenyon, he did at least disagree with Farage and condemned the violence in Southampton; but he couldn’t escape the wrath of Carol Vorderman. The nice Green candidate, Sarah Wakefield, told him Carol was watching at home and expecting an apology, and Kenyon looked like he’d dropped his best spanner down a U-bend. In the normal democracy we used to be, Micheal Winstanley (Tory) or Jake Austin (Lib Dem), both obviously decent folk, would walk this contest. But they’ll lose their deposits. Poor old Makerfield.