Who is Farage supporting in the Makerfield by-election to beat Andy Burnham?

Ajouté : 2026-05-21

[00:00:01]He wants to call time on Labor and this looming bi-election is his big chance.

[00:00:06]So the reform UK leader was pulling no punches at this bar in Win Stanley.

[00:00:10]>> Andy Bham says vote for me to change the Labour party. What we say, what Rob Kenyon says is vote for us to change the country. And we think that's a bigger priority.

[00:00:20]>> The big issue a lot of people associate with your party is stopping the small boats. But what would you actually do for the people of Makerfield?

[00:00:26]>> Well, make life fair error for them.

[00:00:28]That I mean that's the point. That's the point. A shortage of social housing. Um, and in this constituency, goodness knows, no one knows, 200, 300 HMOs in this constituency. And many of those people will be those that came into Britain, frankly, illegally. So, would it would that make a difference to people here? Yes. Less pressure on social housing really would.

[00:00:50]>> But Nigel Farage's own housing situation has come under scrutiny with questions about how he bought a 1.4 million pound home. and he's about to meet a lot of people on the doorsteps of Makerfield.

[00:01:02]>> Journalist after journalist now has asked you about the5 million pounds you got from a crypto billionaire in Thailand. But what I want to know is a voters's asking you about it.

[00:01:10]>> No, no one.

[00:01:11]>> Really?

[00:01:11]>> No one.

[00:01:12]>> No one wants to know about it.

[00:01:13]>> No one. No one. No one. I mean, they see this as media stories. By the way, if I've done something wrong, then they want to know about it. But I'm absolutely confident I haven't. Parts of his family have been here for 200 years.

[00:01:23]>> This is the man he wants to talk about instead. reforms bi-election candidate and local counselor Robert Kenyon, a man who will now be put through all the intense scrutiny of a bi-election that the whole world is watching.

[00:01:36]>> You said you wanted tighter vetting of your candidates. Are you confident that the vetting here has been really strong?

[00:01:41]And do you know why your candidates profile on X was suspended?

[00:01:45]>> Look, there's been a lot of nonsense talked about this. All right. You know, accusations that he's befriended people on social media that were unsuitable.

[00:01:53]You know, when you're fighting a campaign and hundreds of people a day join you as supporters, you can't vet every single one of them. Are we confident that our qualified plumber, ex army reservist, family man, and all round good bloke? Am I confident he's the right man? Absolutely.

[00:02:10]>> Once seen as a safe labor seat, more recent political history has given Reform UK reasons to raise a glass here.

[00:02:17]They came second at the general election, shoving the Conservatives deep into third place. And as for this month's locals, eight council seats were up for grabs here. Reform UK won them all. But one of Labour's most famous faces is in the running, and the Burnham bounce could be hard to predict.

[00:02:34]>> Andy Bernham is one of the most popular politicians in the UK. Are you worried about what his success could mean for your own ambitions to become prime minister?

[00:02:42]>> Look, we're running ahead of ourselves here. You know, there is a big bi-election taking place on the 18th um of next month. It's the biggest bi-election for over half a century. Um, and we are going to throw the kitchen sink at it. We're going to back our plucky plumber to take on the so-called king of the north. And may the best man win.

[00:03:00]>> In a few more days, we should know the full list of candidates on offer to voters. Nigel Farage won't be the last leader to hit the campaign trail. All parties hoping that polling day will bring them a happy hour.

[00:03:13]>> And joins us now. So Licia, as Nigel Farage said there, we have Thursday, June the 18th as the confirmed date for this bi-election. So what's going to happen in Makerfield between now and then?

[00:03:27]Well, to the good people all across this constituency, brace yourself because I think the next few weeks are going to be absolutely frantic. Bi-elections really are like nothing else. You've got all the campaigning efforts that are normally spread around a whole country for the general election suddenly concentrated in just one area. And that's because they're also really unpredictable. You'll remember the RunON and Hellsby contest just a year ago came down to just six votes. So, every party is going to be fighting hard for every single one of them. And I think the fact that the leader of Reform UK was here today rather than in Parliament for Prime Minister's questions really tells you all you need to know about the stakes of this. It is a massive political test and not just for any so-called front runners. All political parties are trying to find their way in this new era of multi-party politics.

[00:04:14]Makerfield is a red wall seat. It's a great way for all of them to test their progress. So I think come the 18th of June, whatever happens, this corner of Wigan will make its mark in Westminster.