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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Double whammy in Makerfield

Makerfield’s voters killed two birds with one stone this week, giving the Faragists a drubbing and sending Andy Burnham back to the House of Commons. If Starmer goes before Parliament’s summer recess that will be an added bonus.

Burnham’s by-election victory was not all that surprising. He was the odds-on favourite with the bookies on the eve of the poll that ended weeks of ferocious Labour campaigning on the streets of the constituency in what was essentially a two-horse race between the “King of the North” and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. But the stakes weren’t quite the same. For Farage victory would just be another feather in his cap. For Burnham victory opens the door to Number Ten.

Farage likes to pose as a country gent with the common touch. But he’s just a venal City businessman who’s been the political voice of those sections of the ruling class long-opposed to the European Union. For many years he languished on the political fringe of British politics. He made common cause with the Tories with his heady mix of racism and anti-Euro federalism during the Brexit campaign. But being propelled to centre stage and leading a small but high-profile far-right front is no substitute for Burnham’s years of political experience as a Blairite minister and then Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Farage is a good communicator. But so is Burnham. Burnham is a hand-shaker and a back-slapper. He’s everyone’s friend and like Labour’s old leader, Harold Wilson, or the late Charles Kennedy of Liberal-Democrat fame, he can get the vote out on the street.

But that wasn’t always the case. Reform had high hopes for their man, a local plumber who was just three points behind Burnham when the campaign began a few weeks ago in the constituency in Greater Manchester. The Faragists played the race card, clearly hoping that the Southampton riots and the sectarian violence in northern Ireland would trigger nation-wide unrest that could be exploited in their favour throughout the rest of the country. But the firm response of the anti-racist movements, together with that of the local communities as a whole, made sure that there was no repetition of the mob violence in Southampton despite the best efforts of the racists, the fascist gangs and the followers of Tommy Robinson to stir up anti-immigrant hysteria.

Burnham is back in Parliament and he says he’s ready to challenge Starmer for the leadership. Starmer’s followers are drifting towards the Burnham camp. Those of his rival, Wes Streeting, want to do a deal to keep their place in the new Burnham administration. Some Corbynistas even hope for reconciliation – although Burnham has ruled out any return for Jeremy Corbyn himself.

Burnham may not be “New Labour”. But he’s definitely “Old Labour”. He says he’ll keep the triple-lock and return the water industry to some sort of public ownership. But that’s as far as it goes from a man who comes from the right social-democratic camp that has traditionally dominated the Labour Party from Ramsay MacDonald’s days....