Burnham's first 100 days: Makerfield goodwill tested as policy doubts grow

A test in Makerfield

Almost 100 days into Andy Burnham's premiership, Makerfield is being used as a test of whether the goodwill that sent him to Downing Street has lasted. The constituency, a patchwork of towns and villages in the north west, had turned to Reform in May's local elections before Burnham reclaimed it in a by-election. That victory rooted him in No 10. A return visit went to the community halls and pubs that hosted his campaign, and to a focus group of local voters.

At Stubshaw Cross, a community centre and sports bar, the back room had been the campaign headquarters. Local people recalled the campaign arriving en masse like a circus and then leaving as quickly as it came. One said the seat had been one of the hardest for Labour to hold and that the political climate had become divisive, almost an 'us and them' divide after the solidarity of the Covid years. Burnham's win did not make the issues that drove voters towards Reform disappear.

Immigration remains front of mind for some. One local voter, Martin, said asylum-seeking hotels in Wigan were a concern and that not enough was being done. He said he had three daughters and worried about how they would get home at night. Reading between the lines, he thought Reform had better policies on the issue, but he said he would not vote for Reform. At Ashton FC, where Burnham held his by-election victory rally, voters were also asked about the bigger challenges now facing the Prime Minister. One said his toughest task would be dealing with Donald Trump and that Burnham should sometimes bite his tongue and play the long game.

Cost of living pressures were never far from the surface. 'Breathing space' has become a byword for Burnham's interventions, but business owners say the squeeze is real. At the Holtz Arms in Billinge, the pub owner said hospitality needed a reduction in VAT and that running costs were crushing. He said the same pressures were hitting hairdressers and other High Street businesses. The focus group gave a mixed verdict. For some, being 'King of the North' was one thing and being Prime Minister quite another. One said Burnham still seemed parochial and had to look wider than Makerfield.

In a separate review of the first 100 days, political commentators argued that Burnham had done the politics well but the policy badly. Jacob Rees-Mogg said Burnham had united the left, with some polls putting Labour in the low thirties and the latest YouGov poll showing him five points ahead of the Tories at 28%. He said that was close to the territory Labour had reached when it won the election. He argued Burnham had moved Labour sharply to the left, reopened the European issue and talked about nationalisation and proportional representation.

The same review was sharply critical of Burnham's policy direction. Rees-Mogg described it as 'hard left 1970s socialism' and said such an approach always fails, making the country poorer, undermining industry, raising unemployment and the tax burden, and slowing growth. He pointed to Rachel Reeves and rising unemployment and strains on business. He called for supply-side changes, including cheaper energy, and said Burnham no longer cared about the red wall. He warned that the right remained divided, with its combined poll share at 46% against 48% for the left excluding nationalists, and split three ways.

A panel discussion after that review broadly agreed that Burnham was likeable and good at politics. One panellist defended his Gogglebox appearance and said it had not cost him dignity. But the discussion turned critical on Europe and migration. Panellists said Burnham's messaging on the EU had been inconsistent and that freedom of movement would follow if he pursued single market membership. One critic said Burnham did not appear to notice or care about migration, citing six and a half million EU settled status applications. Another described his policies as appalling and likened them to 1970s student politics, pointing to four-day working weeks for teachers and potential strikes by medics. The panel also argued over asylum hotels, the cancelled Rwanda scheme and claims that crossings had fallen by 40%.