Thousands of people in Greater Manchester headed to the polls on Thursday, June 18, to cast their votes in a by-election that could have huge consequences for the Labour government.
Voters in Ashton-in-Makerfield have selected a new MP after former Labour minister Josh Simons resigned to open up a path for Andy Burnham's return to Westminster. The Greater Manchester mayor, who previously served as MP for Leigh between 2001 and 2017 before stepping down to run for the mayorship, has made his intentions to replace Sir Keir Starmer clear in recent weeks.
Mr Burnham's return to the House of Commons would give him a launching pad to challenge the current premiership and put himself forward for the top job. Sir Keir has been fighting to stay in Number 10 after a disastrous set of results in the local elections in May, with several Labour members withdrawing their support for the prime minister since.
The turnout for a by-election is usually lower than in a general election, but with the consequences of Thursday's vote expected to reach far beyond the Greater Manchester constituency, it had been predicted that many more voters would be taking to the polls.
There are around 76,500 registered voters in the Makerfield constituency, according to the latest figures. Now that the votes have been verified, it can be revealed that the turnout of the 2026 Makerfield by-election was 45,510 from an eligible population of 77,462. That makes it a turnout of 58.75 per cent.
In 2024, Mr Simons won the general election in Makerfield with 45.2 per cent of the vote, and a majority of 5,399 votes. The turnout for that election was 52.5 per cent with a total of 40,263 votes cast.
In the 2019 general election, when Boris Johnson's Tory government won a landslide victory, the turnout was 59.7 per cent. Labour candidate Yvonne Fovargue won that vote with 45.1 per cent of the vote. She had held the seat since 2010 but decided not to stand in the 2024 general election.
Makerfield has been seen as a safe Labour seat since its creation in 1983, with no other party having won it. However, during the local elections this year, Reform UK won 24 out of 25 seats on Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council that were up for election. Although Labour suffered heavy losses, the party still managed to keep hold of its majority in the borough.
Makerfield is one of three parliamentary by-elections that took place on Thursday. The other two are in the Scottish seats of Aberdeen South, and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, where SNP MPs Stephen Gethins and Stephen Flynn had stood down after winning elections to the Scottish Parliament in May.
