The SEISMIC By‑Election Story That Will Rewrite British Politics

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]The most significant moment in British political history since Brexit is currently unfolding with the Makerfield bi-election. But how did we get here and what's going on? Now, it all started with this guy who for months now has been able to bat off any calls for his resignation and to replace him as leader. But unfortunately, we can no longer do that. But here he is insisting that he shall cling on for dear life.

[00:00:25]>> Who else gets 81 MP backers and challenges for for the leadership? Will you fight them?

[00:00:30]>> Well, we're not at that position, um, Chris, but I've said, I don't know how many times that I'm not going to walk away. I feel very strongly that, um, I must serve the people who voted me into office. Do I recognize that we've got to turn things around over the after those election results? Yes, of course I do.

[00:00:48]>> You can say that again. Meanwhile, >> I was born in Liverpool, but my journey began in this area. This guy, Andy Burden, man from up north, begins his campaign to become the MP for Makerfield after the current Labour MP, who is a Labour MP. So, it's a seat that Labour already hold, stepped down because he essentially fabricated ev evidence against journalists or something and said that they were acting on behalf of the Kremlin. And I British scandals are crap to be honest. But this is the Labour Party fighting for a seat that the Labour Party already held. He talks of course about the level of poverty and the cost of living but seems to be completely unaware of the fact that the video begins with a Range Rover. You didn't see that cost of living crisis.

[00:01:34]There's a Range Rover. A ride and you know something something something uh this is where I live and this is my home and blah blah blah blah which actually I think is kind of true. Now who is Andy Burnham? Andy Bernham was an MP for a significant period of time and then became mayor of Manchester and he has this there's this perceived uh gravitas around him as a character and he's being presented as the air apparent to Karma but the way the British system works is you have to be an MP to be a leader of the party and to be an MP you have to win an election. So they had to find a constituency that they think that they will get that they will win easily which is obviously the most arrogant thing in the world so that they could win it again with a different MP. It's actually best summed up by reforms Leila Cunningham who says, "So ministers are campaigning to win a seat they already had for a candidate that wants to replace the PM that they have full confidence in and claim is going nowhere. And we're meant to pretend this is all perfectly normal." But then Wed Streeting, who was the health secretary but resigned in protest of Kama's leadership, who has ambitions himself of becoming Labour leader. This is all such a circus and it's it's a terrible shame, but we we we may as well be entertained by it. West Streeting comes out and says if I become Labour leader, we'll just rejoin the EU, which is a wild thing to say because although actually the mechanism for rejoining the EU, Parliament could it doesn't need the it doesn't need the permission of the country to do it. If Parliament voted it in, it could it could happen. But obviously we left the EU by a mandate, by an EU by a referendum mandate. But he was doing this because he knows that he's going to have to force Andy Burnham to set out his position. Now Andy Burnham said, "Oh, no, no, no, no. We wouldn't we wouldn't rejoin. No, it's been settled." But the internet is forever. And this clip began to surface.

[00:03:44]>> Long term, I'm going to be honest. I'm going to say it. I want to rejoin. I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union. I'm absolutely clear about that.

[00:03:54]>> He's absolutely clear about that. Well, he had to be absolutely clear about his rebuttal of his own words only a few months ago.

[00:04:02]>> I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU. I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it's going to undermine everything said I've said about strengthening democracy if we don't respect that vote.

[00:04:15]>> Here's why this matters. 66% of the Makerfield electorate voted to leave. It ain't a pro- remain constituency. It certainly isn't particularly expedient to say what you really think, Andy, is it? Then of course, because the internet is forever, a video emerged of Andy Burnham saying that men who identify as women should be able to walt into female toilets whenever they want and use them.

[00:04:42]Clearly there is a there is a group of people who do feel that toilets should be safe space only for women.

[00:04:52]>> Yes, that would be the majority of people with common sense. So the Daily Mail ran the story that Andy Burnham said that men who identify as women should be able to use female toilets and only a small minority object. He claimed Andy Burnham opposed landmark ruling to protect single sex spaces. This was of course the ruling of the Supreme Court that sex relates to biological sex, not the two-spirited and non-binaries. But then he did indeed come to his senses and disagreed with himself. Andy Burham has backed the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance on single sex spaces and said the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex must be implemented.

[00:05:31]He actually went a little bit further and said not only that single sex basis should be used on the basis of biological sex, but that net migration needs to fall further. Is there anything positive to report on for Andy Bernham?

[00:05:44]There kind of is actually, and I think it's only fair that we mention it.

[00:05:47]Here's what happened. Scandal. Reform UK's thug tactics on display. Reform have officially become the party of intimidation and bullying with zero boundaries. They stormed into the Hamlet Cafe in Wakefield on Wednesday, overwhelming vulnerable young people with additional needs who were training there. I think these were kids with with special needs or disabilities. No warning, ignored the rules, turned a safe space into a chaotic media circus.

[00:06:16]Gemma, the owner, is devastated. This wasn't politics. This was slugy. Now, it's worth listening to what Gemma has to say here because actually it it it demonstrates the difference between Andy Burnham and those that are in reform and it looks good for Andy and I don't I don't think he's done it just because it looks good because well you listen to what she has to say outside Buckingham Palace no less and make up your own mind.

[00:06:44]>> I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the events that happened at the Hamlet Wigan CIC on Wednesday. I'd organized a lovely small event for 13 of our trainees that had completed their gold juke of Edinburgh's award and today we're here at the palace to celebrate that in the gardens. Um the event was a very small just our trainees um and Andy Vern Andy Bernham was invited to come along to celebrate our trainees success and achievements and he did so in a non-political uh way. Andy has supported the hamlet all the time on our journey from 2017. And if you go back onto our Facebook page, you will see that Andy has been to the hamlet on many occasions before. Andy turned up with no political agenda on Wednesday. He turned up on his on on his own with no cameras, no uh media crew with him. At the end of our celebration, towards the end of our celebration, the reform party did turn up and just walked into our cafe. It was very overwhelming and and a big um party of minimum of 15 people did uh come walked into the cafe and started filming and taking pictures straight away without kusking permission. Um which there's signage all over our cafe that we are supporting young adults with additional needs who are very vulnerable and there was no consent given for using the hamlet as a political environment and I I don't condone that at all. So, credit to Andy. This is something that he did off the radar. There's no photo ops. He's not he's not it's very difficult to use as as leverage for political gain. But we see, don't we? We see what reform are about. And so, let's take a look at the reform campaign so far. Credit to reform. I think they've probably selected the best local candidate out of any of the parties. I also have that t-shirt that he's wearing. But this is a little we have we'll take we'll take a little taste of who Robert Kenyon, the reform candidate, is born in Makerfield. If I was elected, I'd be the first person born in the constituency to become the MP. I don't think any MP that's ever stood in Makerfield was actually born in the area. I'm a plumber, gas engineer. I've done that for a long time. I did me apprenticeship when I was 18. I love being a plumber. I do enjoy it. It's hard, but I do enjoy it cuz I do take pride in my work.

[00:09:08]So a local guy plumber born there they've learned their lesson. The previous bi-election Gaunt and Denton they lost because they air dropped in an outside candidate. I personally thought at the time and still do and are completely unimpressed by him that he was a poor candidate. Very unimpressed by Matt Goodwin. Don't know what the appeal is. Not for me. This is the sort of stuff that resonates with people.

[00:09:34]This is very good politicking and it's also it's also right for the people of Makerfield. He wasn't without some scandal. It turns out that he had his uh ex or Twitter page suspended for some tweets, but the thing is people on the left see that as like a haha got you.

[00:09:56]But PE for people that are center or right of center, it's really not a big deal. Obviously, there is a limit. You know, if he went into a cinema and filmed HIMSELF SHOUTING FIRE, obviously we would say, "Yeah, that's uh probably a dealbreaker. Not the right candidate."

[00:10:15]But if he's expressed some opinions that people don't like or you know, for most people looking at a story like that, they're going to say, and certainly the voters aren't going to look at that and say, "We can't possibly vote for him."

[00:10:28]And then and then Nigel Farage and Reform put out a really quite fantastic piece of content which was just essentially Nigel Farage and Robert Kenyon driving around in his white van having a chat. We'll listen to a little bit of it, not too much of it, but just to get a kind of flavor.

[00:10:44]>> Two days ago, me 17-year-old apprentice was sat there and you'll be all right.

[00:10:49]This is the place where I when I left schools. When I left school, I went straight into work and it was a a factory that made scaffolding, reconditioned it. So there'd be a shot blaster blasting all the dust off and the paint. So you'd be welding and then you'd be painting it as well. So it was an horrible dusty job and it was a hard job, you know, for such a young lad. And the money was terrible as well. But it was doing that job that made me realize I wanted to do something else. So that's when I learned this is good stuff. I was really impressed when I saw it. It's just a shame that reform are the pretender party, the paper tiger party.

[00:11:22]I believe they're inauthentic. They've they've accepted ex tries into the party like we accept illegal migrants on dingies. The way reform operate is they wait for restore or Robert to test a policy nationally because Robert has the courage uh and the conviction to go straight to the country with what he believes. He doesn't really falter and there's not much bandwidth. This is these are his beliefs and his principles and he's consistent and he was kicked out of reform holding what Nigel believed to be unelectable opinions and views. It's since transpired that actually a lot of the country is aligned with Robert and the message of restore. And so reform will then adopt the more purist restore policies once they know they're safe.

[00:12:21]They don't take the risk up front. They wait for Robert and Restore to take the risk and then they adopt the policies.

[00:12:28]That's not to say that they're not going to attract good people. And I'm being as honest as I can in this assessment.

[00:12:33]Robert Kenyon. If they win this, it will be because they selected such a good candidate. But let's get on to Restore.

[00:12:40]Now, Robert announces Rebecca Shepard, a local businesswoman, as the candidate for Restore Britain. A solid choice. No doubt about it. A solid choice. I like her. I think she comes across well. I think Rob Kenyon for reform as a candidate versus candidate. Parties to one side. reform are leaning into the working man narrative. Restore are leaning into the entrepreneurial business narrative, but the reform brand is not as strong, I don't think, as people believe it is. I think it's inauthentic. I think it's unimpressive.

[00:13:16]And this is the difference between Reform and Restore. Restore as a brand is so trusted. It stayed true to itself with the selection of this candidate.

[00:13:28]RER is a man that understands that entrepreneurs generating wealth for themselves and as a consequence other people because it requires employment and the engagement of people in the economy has selected a candidate that reflects that and the restore brand I think will be shown to be far more trusted and authentic and true than the reform brand. You have to adopt the attitude I adopt in parliament, which is the three key words are I don't care.

[00:14:01]>> People say that that we're racist or whatever, but you have to sleep in a bed, don't you? With all of your children, one bed, four people. And was told that immigrants took precedence over them getting help. I can't stand by and let that happen. I can't. I'm It's just not that we don't want to help. We do. But what about our people? So, what does all this mean? Where's the Greens?

[00:14:26]What's the Conservatives? What's happening with the Conservatives? Is there any polling? One of the most interesting things to note, and that meme is hilarious, by the way, is that there's something of a disconnect.

[00:14:38]There's the establishment polling and then there's the betting market and what's happening locally. Rert's done some really interesting independent stuff on this as well. So we can see here that restore Britain win in to to win in Makerfield is down is now at 6:1 from 50 to1. So that was a big jump. And NGB politics reported that betting activity in the Makerfield bi-election since markets open shows the following shares. Restore Britain 51% Labour 23, Reform 23, Greens and Conservatives barely mentioned. The Conservatives have put a candidate up. I'm delighted that Michael Win Stanley is standing for the Conservatives in Mayfield. There he is.

[00:15:19]The Greens, on the other hand, have had an absolute mayor. And it is glorious to see. Their candidate, Chris Kennedy, withdrew for personal reasons, but it also transpired that Chris Kennedy shared posts describing the attack on the Jewish ambulance in London as a false flag. He apologized and removed the removed the shares, then pulled out.

[00:15:39]I don't think they've put anyone up since, actually, have they? Then it transpired that old Zack, get yourself to Turkey to sort your teeth out. Make a woman's breasts grow by hypnotizing them. Palansky is facing a formal investigation by London assembly stand by the London assembly standards commissioner over whether he paid his council tax.

[00:15:59]These are people whose very existence is defined by the fact that they want people to pay more tax and he's not even paying his own. Needless to say, this is a three-h horse race between Labor, Reform, and Restore. The first actual bi-election poll released has put Labor first, Reform second, and Restore third.

[00:16:21]Now, considering Restore didn't exist 5 minutes ago, such is the trust for the brand, the Restore brand, that they're already making a mark. The most interesting polling though has come from Roert himself. That previous poll that we looked at by survation was 369 people I think in that region. Restore Britain have canvased doorsteps a,0 and this these are the results for restore Britain 24.6%.

[00:16:51]Definitely against restore Britain 31.2% undecided 24.2% and considering 20%. Fascinating stuff.

[00:17:03]250 of a thousand people will vote for them. 300 of a thousand people definitely won't. And the remaining 500 or so are either considering voting for them or undecided. That's where the election is won. If they can be converted, that's where the election is won. Now, candidate for candidate, as I've already said, they're both strong with Robert Kenyon slightly edging it.

[00:17:30]In my opinion, this will come down to number one, the people of Makerfield's appetite for voting for Restore, taking the risk and voting for them. Obviously, such an obvious point to make, but number two, how much of what we see of reform can be trusted? My mind is already made up that you can't trust anything that they say, but they are well known to people and that's quite difficult to fight against. And there's this really stupid narrative brewing, this split the vote narrative. Well, is the so should should people just never be ambitious? You should never be ambitious and try and take ground from other people in a in an election cycle because it's it's splitting the vote. So we should never So somebody like Robert with the the the decades of business experience and no external influence and no pay masters a party like Restore Britain who are so fundamentally tied to their principles but they should just they should just say wow what's the point we might we'll just we'll just spit the vote so we just won't bother. Where's the ambition?

[00:18:43]There's no doubt this country is going through some changes. Now in fairness to the mainstream media this is Sophie Ridge. She's a one of the main anchors at Sky News. She's tweeted to say, "Look at those restore numbers." I do feel reassured when I see posts like that because it does show that you can't just take it for granted that the mainstream media are still completely captured. I mean, they are really, and we don't have much trust in them anymore, but it's good to see that there are people countering that narrative. Also, this from Dan Hodges. Just for fairness, this does reflect what I found in Makerfield.

[00:19:18]Restore have much more of a presence on the ground than I was anticipating. Have to see if they can sustain it, but it's real. As an organic turnout, these people here in the photo, it's pretty impressive. Robert is just, he's always ready for a punchup. Considering you've spent the last week sniping like a jilted X, this is high praise. Dan Hodges, you know my personal view, but I can only write what I actually see.

[00:19:43]Well, fair play to him. I don't know what the beef is. It's hard to keep up with it. This from Dan Hodges again.

[00:19:50]This is what will now happen. Reform will launch a frenzied attack on restore to try and squeeze the restore vote. And the effect will be to dramatically increase the salience of restore and have the completely opposite effect. We can only hope. such as the nature of the unpredictability of uh democracy and politics, we've accidentally found ourselves a new superhero. This gentleman here and the 13 minutes or so that Will Coohl's Hill spoke to him for.

[00:20:23]Considering that everything he said was off the top of his head in a world of AI and social media cheat codes, what this guy said was nothing short of sensational.

[00:20:35]And it's all spoken about by me in the video that should be showing as up next on your screen right now. Thank you for watching. Please do click on that. If you got anything that you would like to say, comment, tell me if you think I am off my head and I don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe you're a diehard reform groupy like Alex Phillips. Maybe you agree with me that restore are the ones. Maybe you think the restore candidate is the better candidate. Maybe you actually are going to vote for that bloke from the Conservatives. Whatever it is, comment, like, and share, and subscribe. Thanks for watching.