In the end, it wasn’t even close.
I rarely talk about politics here. Not real reason – I believe we should talk more about politics and how things affect us: a blanket “no politics” rule kills a safe space for marginalised communities, but for whatever reason I feel like the permanent nature of blogs and the temporary nature of public opinion means it may bite you in the bum at a later date1.
Nevertheless – I do wear my political opinions on my sleeve (which is ally, left wing and think that Brexit is the stupidest thing we have done as a nation), and I was happy waking up to read Andy Burnham – the mayor of Manchester – won the Makerfield by election and therefore has a definitive path to become prime minister.
There has been genuine change in Manchester: the busses are now yellow to match the trams and have clear branding promoting £2 bus fares, and homelessness is at the very least a lot less visible and at most almost eradicated. The city has transformed over the past 10 years, and Andy Burnham spearheaded it. Between that, the work he did for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and how visible he was during COVID and in the aftermath of the Ariana Grande concert bombing, he feels like a genuine change and a genuine bloke.
I was worried about this election. To drive from mine to my partner’s house drives straight through Makerfield, and the last few weeks I’ve seen so many Reform signs out. I saw one Restore sign, and about 3 Vote Andy placards. Sunday I was tailing a Reform bus in the off teal colours for about a mile on Sunday, and I felt like it was inevitable for a shock. A lot of the places I drive through is one of those places that have England flags everywhere, and not just for the World Cup.
I’m sympathetic to the resident’s plight – as I live in a similar area that has been forgotten, and people are crying out for change. It’s just depressing that the void in these places has been taken advantage by racist populists, who believe the country is full, taxes are too high and anybody who doesn’t scale a lampost to hang a Union Jack is unpatriotic. Last night felt like a bit of genuine hope.
I’d never vote for Reform or any far right party (or indeed center right at the moment), and their candidate seemed like the sort of person I wouldn’t get on with. For them to be licking their wounds after being told resoundly to go fuck themselves made me smile.
Anyway, good luck Andy, hopefully you are the change that people desperately need.
- I had a football blog once where I praised an individual for a classy gesture, who later turned out to be a wrongun. ↩︎