Delivering by-election leaflets never used to be a blood sport, unless you count dogs nipping fingers through letterboxes. But for one Labour MP campaigning for Andy Burnham, some areas in Makerfield have become no-go-zones.
“We had people telling us to f*** off and get off their estate,” the MP recalled after visiting an area last weekend where turquoise Reform UK posters jostled for space with Restore Britain’s navy branding.
That anger at Labour campaigners is not universal across the constituency near Wigan, with most voters “very friendly” even in some unexpected places. “If there was a Porsche on the driveway, then you were fine. I had a woman who’d only ever voted Tory in her life tell me she was coming out for Andy because she loathes Reform,” the Labour MP said.
With just over a week to go, the strength of the Restore Britain vote looks likely to secure Burnham victory by splitting Reform’s vote. A rare constituency-wide poll circulating internally among Labour staffers and seen by The i Paper shows Rupert Lowe’s ultra-right Restore at 13 per cent, eating into Reform support. Nigel Farage’s party polls at 24 per cent. The survey from earlier this week shows that if combined, this right-wing anti-Burnham vote would stop him returning to Parliament: the King of the North is only scoring 35 per cent.
