"For Nigel Farage, the Makerfield result is crushing. His party’s senior leadership expected to be the story of the night. Instead, it fell more than 9,000 votes short and was relegated to a footnote"

Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleA Reform UK board member has admitted that…

Who would have thought that this man, who was once a plain and rather uninspiring New Labour minister, would one day become the great hope against the darkness?

Editorial: By offering Labour’s Makerfield candidate a role in government if he wins, the prime minister has shown how a faltering administration could yet be rebuilt. It would…

The Greater Manchester Mayor is facing a tough fight from Reform - but Restore Britain could take Farage's votes

If Labour can fail in former mining towns then there may be no stopping Nigel Farage’s populist Reform party

Nigel Farage warned that the by-election taking place today will be 'tight' and 'no-one knows what will happen'.

'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

Was Rob Kenyon really the best that Reform could come up with in a political battle that attracted widespread national interest?

Keir Starmer’s position as UK prime minister is in peril after Burnham’s crushing victory over Reform UK

Andy Burnham’s positive vision has struck a powerful blow to Reform – but the PM risks diminishing the impact by clinging on in No 10, says Neal Lawson of the cross-party campaign…

Seismic decisions loom for Labour as Andy Burnham secures a return to Westminster with a convincing by-election win that could spell the end of Keir Starmer's premiership

From a hopeless candidate to botched strategy, this latest byelection defeat is telling. But for Labour, there is still a long and arduous journey ahead, says Guardian columnist…

Nigel Farage pointed to tactical voting against the PM as well as the fact that Andy Burnham is a 'popular local mayor'.

The Manchester politician has bucked a trend of declining support for Labour – and political allies will be taking note

Political editor David Maddox explains why the crushing by-election defeat shows that the Reform bubble has burst

Andy Burnham has hailed his landslide victory over Reform UK in the crucial Makerfield by-election as a “turning point” as he insists Labour has a “final chance to change”. Nigel…

Voters made a choice between Andy Burnham and Nigel Farage, the two most popular figures in British politics. And Farage lost.

Reform UK party leader calls Andy Burnham’s byelection win ‘emphatic’ and makes appeal to voters of far-right Restore Britain

Makerfield result means we will likely have a new PM by September, and Britain will find out what Burnhamism really means

'Voters in an area representing battered towns everywhere took a Left turn by overwhelmingly choosing hope and togetherness over bigotry and division,' Kevin Maguire writes for…