The upcoming Makerfield by-election will take place on June 18, the Press Association reports.
The news was confirmed by Wigan Council, which means that candidates have less than four weeks to make their pitch in the constituency, won by Labour in 2024 but with Reform just 6,000 votes behind.
It comes less than a week after the by-election was triggered by the news that the sitting Labour MP Josh Simons would be stepping down – and that GM Mayor Andy Burnham would be standing in his place.
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He has since been confirmed as Labour’s candidate for the seat, in what many commentators view as the first step that could lead to Number 10.
Nearly 100 Labour MPs have called for Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation in the wake of the party’s disastrous local election results on May 8.
Right-wing parties Restore Britain and Reform UK have since confirmed their candidates in the race, with Reform selecting newly minted local candidate Robert Kenyon as their pick. The party won 24 out of 25 available seats at local elections in Wigan, while Labour failed to win a single seat.
Kenyon stood as Reform’s candidate in Makerfield in the 2024 general election, where he came second to Josh Simons. Party leader Nigel Farage called him the ‘plucky plumber’ who could ‘take on open-borders Burnham’.
The Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Green Party all have yet to declare a seat.
