this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026

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Andy Burnham Crushes Reform in Makerfield (novaramedia.com)

submitted 1 day ago by okwithmydecay@leminal.space to c/uk_politics@feddit.uk

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[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I bet this headline hits VERY different to anyone who hasn't paid attention for the last couple/few years to know about Reform the party.

Without that context, he kinda sounds like a villain from a 1930s play 😄

[–] milkisklim@lemmy.world 11 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

There was a cult in the American sitcom Parks and Rec called the reasonablists. They were named as such because if you disagreed with them, that would make you seem unreasonable. I feel Reform is a similar trap.

[–] TheWolfOfSouthEnd@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 12 hours ago

I think that’s why they’ve called themselves that.

[–] TheUnicornOfPerfidy@feddit.uk 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

The name of Reform has always made me think of this too! You may as well call your party Nice Things. "Do you stand against Nice Things." "See this is why we don't have Nice Things."

[–] Monzcarro@feddit.uk 3 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I heard someone pronounce it RE-form, the way you'd say reformed ham. This is now my preferred pronunciation for the reasons above.

[–] DakRalter@thelemmy.club 2 points 12 hours ago

I pronounce it Deform Ltd.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 2 points 18 hours ago

What does RE-FORM stand for anyway?

Is it:
Racists
Economic Fraudsters
Oligarchs
Rapists
Morons

Raping
England
For
Oligarch's
Russian
Money

Robbing
England's
Future
Over
Rape
Movies

Ruining
Earth's
Future
Over
Risky
Money

or other?

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 21 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Gary called it and is hopeful that we might get wealth taxes (video). Let's hope that Labour won't be absolute tits on the issue.

[–] davepleasebehave@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago

that would be very popular

[–] FishFace@piefed.social 7 points 22 hours ago

Well that's probably better than any alternative.

[+] llamatron@lemmy.world -16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So much mega-important, world changing shit going on and we have this media stoked in-fighting nonsense going on.

Fucking politics man.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 24 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

Would you prefer that Farage wins the next UK general election?

[–] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 14 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Got to echo this.

Unlike the low-stakes infighting nonsense that we often have, this is really important.

Multiple polls have shown that not only is Andy Burnham much more popular than Starmer (big surprise, who isn't?), but that he's more popular than Farage. And that is a big deal, because almost nobody else is.

He's an attractive choice for the left, and he's attractive for Northerners who want change - two camps which Starmer has well and truly lost.

[–] tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 5 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Are any of the Left still in the Labour Party?

[–] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

I meant the general population, really.

I live in a place where, realistically, the next MP is going to be Labour or Reform. I'm a member of the Green Party, but I'd vote Labour if Burnham was leading it. I wouldn't at the moment.

[–] zedcell@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 17 hours ago

Burnham will dance to the same Labour Together and Labour Friends of Israel tune, just like Starmer and Streeting. The person who stepped down for him was a parachuted Labour Together think tank leader, and Burnham has refused to call the genocide in Palestine a genocide. He has committed to the bizarre liberal "fiscal rules", he has committed to Shabana Mahmood's home office policies.

He will be the same shit with a slightly different fragrance.

[–] tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 1 points 18 hours ago

That's a fair and sensible position.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Not really... but I bet there's quite a lot who'll simply follow the current party line, so if the Labour leader were to steer things leftwards towards the centre (or ideally past it), many of them would follow it.

[–] tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Starmer stood for Labour leadership on a considerably lefter platform than the vague stuff Burnham's been saying. Burnham as PM isn't going to change Labour's current policies. He might be better at campaigning. When people realise that nothing's going to change, helped by the rightwing press, they'll turn on him too.

[–] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

The difference is that he's got form.

I, like most people here (Manchester), voted against having a mayor in the first place. When the Tories made the position anyway, I voted against Andy Burnham.

But he's absolutely won me over. In the time he's been mayor, directly because of his policies, Manchester has improved dramatically.

Starmer promised a lot, but Burnham has actually delivered change already.

[–] llamatron@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

No of course not.

It just seems like their time could be better spent dealing with problems instead of infighting. Then maybe the deluded fools who've fallen for the Farage con would wake up.

But that's wishful thinking. I'm old enough and cynical enough to see how little really changes. The rich still get richer with the rest fighting over an ever shrinking slice of the pie while politicians tinker around the edges.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 6 points 20 hours ago

This is getting reported much more than the other by-elections that happened specifically because this one is quite likely to bring about a significant change in the UK's national politics