OPINION: As Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election, the big question is whether he could bring about that change and in truth. Of that, nobody knows. But what I do know about Burnham gives me hope.

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?

The most important by-election in decades could be the first in history to decide who is prime minister – with the fate of the government in the hands of an electorate of 76,641…