Andy Burnham secured a decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, returning to the House of Commons and placing fresh pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer as divisions within the Labour Party deepen. The former Greater Manchester mayor won 24,927 votes, taking 54.8 per cent of the vote in the Lancashire constituency. Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon finished second with 15,696 votes, equivalent to 34.5 per cent. Turnout reached 58.8 per cent, exceeding the constituency's participation rate at ...

'King of the North' Andy Burnham has swept to victory in the most significant by-election in modern times as he became MP for Makerfield after seeing off Reform UK's Rob Kenyon

The Greater Manchester mayor was declared the constituency's new MP in the early hours of Friday, as he defeated his Reform UK rival to bring an end to his 9-year hiatus from the…