Andy Burnham faces an anxious wait for the results of the Makerfield by-election, with the outcome set to decide whether he can challenge Sir Keir Starmer to become prime minister. Politicians have been at polling stations and greeting supporters in the Wigan constituency all day, where the result has long been forecast to be a close contest between Labour’s Andy Burnham and Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage arrived at a polling station alongside Mr Kenyon on Thursday, while Mr Burnham urged voters to “for ever associate this area with having brought a change to British politics”.If former health secretary Mr Burnham wins, he is expected to challenge Sir Keir for the party leadership.But Mr Kenyon also has had strong support in polls since the by-election was announced. Reform is worried about losing voters to Rupert Lowe’s party, Restore Britain, which takes a harder line on migration.Wes Streeting, also an ex-health secretary, says if Mr Burnham stands against Sir Keir, he will join the contest.The list of candidates is here.Polls will close at 10pm.Jane Dalton18 June 2026 20:30New defence secretary 'working round the clock to get defence plan resources'New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis says he is “working around the clock” to complete a plan aimed at bolstering the armed forces with more cash.Mr Jarvis was asked by reporters at a Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels whether he was fighting for more money in the defence investment plan (Dip), following the resignation of his predecessor John Healey over funding.He said he had huge respect for Mr Healey, saying: “My priority now is to make sure that our armed forces have the resources that they need to do a very difficult job of work that’s being asked of them.”He added: “So I’m working around the clock with my colleagues across Government to make sure that we can get the Dip completed, that we can get the resource that we need to make sure that our armed forces personnel get the resources that we need.”(AFP/Getty)Jane Dalton18 June 2026 20:00Jane Dalton18 June 2026 19:30What will happen in this week’s ‘other’ by-elections in Aberdeen South and in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry?Makerfield is one of only three by-elections on the same night. Sean O’Grady looks at the other two contests, and what other political upsets might be in store.Nicole Wootton-Cane18 June 2026 19:00City red tape also risks Dartmoor pony cull, Badenoch saysThe burden of government red tape that is tying up the City of London is also responsible for a potential cull of Dartmoor’s hill ponies, Kemi Badenoch claims.The Conservative leader set out an overhaul of rules governing the financial sector, saying the burden of regulations has become too high and created a risk-averse culture in financial industries.She said she wanted to see the whole of society mobilised in a “war effort” to turn around Britain’s “economic decline”.As she took questions after her speech, the Tory leader called on business leaders to publicly speak out about regulations and government actions they did not like.Mrs Badenoch added: “Not enough people know, and not enough people understand just how bad it’s got.“I don’t know how many people have heard of the Dartmoor ponies being culled because of some weird regulation that came out of Natural England.”A row is growing over a potential cull on Dartmoor, with campaigners claiming requirements to cut livestock grazing on the moor’s commons under new contracts from government agency Natural England could lead to the removal of up to 90% of its hill ponies.Jane Dalton18 June 2026 18:30Starmer refuses to say whether he wants Britain to rejoin EUSir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether he would like to see Britain rejoin the EU in his lifetime amid growing pressure on the prime minister to carve out closer ties with the bloc.It comes after Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to challenge the prime minister for the Labour leadership, previously said he hopes he sees Britain rejoin the bloc during his lifetime.Asked whether he would like the same, Sir Keir told reporters at the G7 Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, that “we shouldn’t spend the whole time looking backwards to Brexit”.You can read more below:Jane Dalton18 June 2026 18:00Opinion: Things would be so different if we’d stayed in the EU Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey writes: We have witnessed a terrible waste of British influence, a severe cost-of-living crisis, and a tragic degradation of our collective security. We cannot afford another decade of isolation and economic stagnation:Jane Dalton18 June 2026 17:40Watch: Makerfield by-election liveNicole Wootton-Cane18 June 2026 17:20Jane Dalton18 June 2026 17:00Green leader Polanski cleared over council tax ‘mistake’Greens leader Zack Polanski has been cleared of allegations that he breached the Greater London Authority (GLA) Code of Conduct amid concerns that he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat.Mr Polanski, who is a London Assembly member, explained in a witness statement that he believed council tax fees were being managed through the mooring fees he regularly paid for the boat.He faced questions last month over whether the houseboat was his primary residence and therefore liable for council tax.The party originally said he only stayed on the boat occasionally, but then issued an apology from him for what it called an “unintentional mistake”.City Hall looked into whether Mr Polanski had breached conduct rules.The monitoring officer for the GLA says Mr Polanski’s council tax position arose “solely from his personal living arrangements” and bore no “sufficient link to the member’s public role”.“I have decided that no further action needs to be taken with this complaint,” monitoring officer Rory McKenna wrote.Jane Dalton18 June 2026 16:40