Two days remain until the Makerfield by-election. As Guido wrote in yesterday’s Labour Wars, Andy Burnham remains the bookies’ favourite. Reform’s hopes of crushing the Restore insurgency are fading. Party veteran and Reform board member Gawain Towler admitted today it would be “hard work” to win, though he largely attributed it to Burnham’s personal brand. “I think if it was anybody but Burnham, I think we’d be a shoo-in”…
Burnham’s personal popularity is a factor, but Restore’s impact on this seat cannot be ignored. Almost all of Restore’s campaign material in Makerfield attacks Reform rather than Burnham. Lowe’s party has poured enormous resources into its campaign, attracting a large crowd in the constituency yesterday and churning out social media clips which do particularly well on Facebook. Though not without hiccups: footage of Lowe and his supporters encouraging a man claiming to have torn down dozens of Burnham posters is now doing the rounds on social media. The man has reportedly been referred to the police…
