There was a man dressed as a fox. Count Binface was inspecting the quality of the toilets in the venue, and each member of the Monster Raving Loony Party sported headgear more elaborate than the previous one. The journalists found a good spot in the media room and drank copious amounts of badly made coffee. Even the snacks had a local flavour. There was a bowl of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, which are made in a factory in Wigan. Meanwhile, Sky News had snagged a room all to themselves for presenters to do their hair and make-up before proceedings began. M.E.N. reporters had to make do with the ladies toilets instead.
This was the night where The Edge, in Wigan, became the centre of British politics. The voters of Makerfield had been tasked with the huge burden of picking a candidate who could potentially become the next Prime Minister of the UK. No pressure. The result, in the end, was not especially dramatic. Andy Burnham won by a landslide, with 54.8 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of Reform's Rob Kenyon on 34.5 percent. But by-election results are rarely just about the numbers. They're about the characters, the odd encounters and the unexpected moments that make it memorable.
The national media had descended on the Makerfield constituency almost from the moment the by-election was called, triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Josh Simons. Reporters and television crews – including from Aljazeera, the New York Times and even a German media outlet – occupied every corner of the area, rushed around to get interviews with the candidates and voters, as well as rushing to every event organised by the parties running in the contest. Some residents, encountered by the M.E.N. over recent weeks, admitted they had begun to tire of the sudden spotlight thrust upon them. The initial novelty, and a brief appearance on TV, quickly got old. Yet on one Thursday evening, the constituency remained the focus of politics in Britain.
Count Binface Steals the Show
Among the night's more enthusiastic participants was Count Binface, the intergalactic space warrior whose approval prompted almost as much interest from broadcasters as some of the mainstream candidates. Fresh from an interview with Sky News, where one presenter initially failed to recognise him, Binface was generous in his assessment of the Manchester Evening News. "The M.E.N., that's some proper journalism!" he declared to our delighted politics reporter. He was equally complimentary about the Edge itself, praising the Post Code café that had remained open all night (to a very grateful bunch of journalists) and describing its toilets as "above average" – perhaps the first endorsement of the venue's facilities ever delivered by a man wearing a silver bin-head.
Not that he was entirely free of political observations. While insisting he didn't engage in "ad hominem attacks", he managed to describe Reform's Rob Kenyon as a "sexist plumber", a reference to old social media posts that dogged Kenyon's campaign. "I don't like sexists who have appalling views about abortion," said Binface to some cheers, before turning to Labour. "The current Prime Minister is so weak that your Labour candidate here is running on the message of 'Vote Labour, the leader is sh**e!'" he said, prompting much laughter. "Personally I find that a surreal mandate, but then look who's talking." Asked about Restore Britain's Rebecca Shepherd, Binface replied: "Who?" That was a response many journalists might have sympathised with about a candidate who had ghosted the majority of the media - and public - throughout the campaign.
Restore Britain's Media Blackout
Throughout the campaign, the M.E.N. had repeatedly sought an interview with Shepherd, only to be ignored. When Restore leader Rupert Lowe was asked by the M.E.N. why his candidate had not done any interviews, he replied: "Well, she's been busy campaigning. Doing interviews doesn't necessarily win you votes, but being out on the street does." The M.E.N. had also invited her to a hustings organised by the paper at Winstanley College on June 10. When asked about this, Lowe merely replied: "But we weren't invited on to [BBC] Question Time. The Tories were invited on, the Lib Dems, but we weren't invited onto that, so we just concentrated on getting on with talking to people in Makerfield, and I'm hopeful that they will support what we're doing. So we'll see in a minute what the result is."
However, opportunity presented itself when I saw Shepherd sitting with her team in the cafe. Asked for a brief comment, Shepherd said "no thank you" a few times, before adding: "I've had a complete media blackout from the media so I'm returning the favour." We replied: "But we've been trying you for a couple of weeks!" Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Much of the commentary on Restore's prospects came from the party leader. Lowe argued his party, which was only officially registered in March, had fought a strong campaign and deserved greater recognition. Whatever expectations existed before polling day, the final tally of 3,111 votes, equivalent to 6.8 percent of the vote, left Burnham's winning margin looking comfortable.
The Night Unfolds
Elsewhere, there were the usual pleasantries: candidates chatting between interviews, activists comparing notes after weeks on the doorstep, and election officials attempting to maintain order amid the noise and excitement. Just before 2am, rumours started spreading through the hallways of the Edge: Andy Burnham was arriving. No, he was arriving in an hour. No, he was arriving in 15 minutes. Photographers mounted various objects for an advantageous perspective - from the pedestrian step ladder, to more adventurous choice of bins and safety cones. After a precariously balanced twenty minutes, the man himself strode through the door – dressed all in black with a Bee Network badge, handshaking and hugging his way through a crowd of campaigners, cabinet members, and progressively large hats worn by an assemblage of Monster Raving Loony Party members.
As the applause from the Labour camp died down, a man shouted: "Next step Downing Street, Mr Burnham?" It's a question the outgoing Greater Manchester Mayor artfully skirted around all evening. As stacks of ballot papers were sorted and counted, Labour figures looked increasingly optimistic. Wigan Council leader Nazia Rehman spoke to the M.E.N. early on in the evening, predicting that Labour had done 'better than expected'. In words that seemed filled with both excitement and pointed expectation, Coun Rehman added: "If Andy Burnham wins, I look forward to working with him to deliver all the promises he made to the people of Makerfield." She credited Burnham with running a good campaign and said he had done a great job as mayor of Greater Manchester, something she hoped he could replicate in Westminster.
She proved to be right. Even before the results were announced, there were signs the evening hadn't gone as planned for the Reform party. The party leader Nigel Farage was glaring in his absence - and shortly after 1am, rumours spread around the counting hall that he'd been spotted departing for London. Shortly after 3am, the declaration confirmed what many inside The Edge had already sensed for much of the evening. Burnham had secured a commanding victory, Reform had finished a distant second (with Kenyon doing a disappearing act shortly after Burnham's speech), and the by-election that had drawn so much attention from Westminster, Fleet Street and beyond was over.
In a speech that promised 'political change' and 'more power for the North' - there was much ambiguous hinting but no mention of Burnham's much-predicted next steps to challenge the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for his title. For the journalists packing away their laptops after filing copy, campaigners nursing their disappointments, and election staff nearing the end of a very long and tiring shift, perhaps the main man himself summed up best how we all felt in the early hours of Friday morning. Leaving the venue, an exhausted Burnham, accompanied by his wife and daughter, swatted away the gaggle of reporters and camera crew haranguing him about 'leadership challenges' and his 'next steps' with the simple reply: "I'm going for a pint!"
