This is not a normal by-election

I know from my inbox that Labour members have mixed views about whether or not, were he to be elected today, Andy Burnham should challenge Keir Starmer to be leader of the Labour Party and  – therefore  – PM. I get that. Like most questions in politics there are no easy or obvious answers and feelings run high when such choices are being discussed.

But today is not the day to argue about that. Because Labour are in the fight of our lives in Makerfield – and who wins there has ramifications beyond what happens at the top of the Labour Party.

Beating Reform matters. It matters because their values are completely inimical to everything we believe in. It matters because we do not want to hand Nigel Farage a win. It matters because  – as it says in Clause One of our constitution  – the party exists to promote the election of Labour Party representatives at all levels of government. It matters that we take back the momentum from Reform and show them to be beatable by our Party and that our shared values can triumph in the battle of ideas.

READ MORE: Head North… to Makerfield

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However, Labour is in power – something that hasn’t happened a lot in the time LabourList has been in existence. So we also strive every day to ensure that we do not allow that essential focus on internal politics to distract us from the difference Labour is able to make in power. We have both jobs to do – and our readers expect us to tell the stories of Labour wins in government – and sometimes our missteps. We do both. We report on the stories that matter to Labour members no one else will cover – and focus on the bigger picture too.

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And the bigger picture here is that we have a vital opportunity to change the narrative of pain that has engulfed the Party since the devastating elections in May. To take on our biggest opponents and score a win. To feel good again about our ability and chances of doing that. And that is something that every single Labour member should prioritise today.

Reform and Farage have loomed far too large over our politics for far too long. They have injected their poison into the body politic and our political debate is debased as a result. You just have to look at the way they are behaving in the Welsh Senedd to see that.

Today we have a chance to tell them that this is not OK. Today we have a chance to prick Nigel’s smug, complacent bubble. To give pause to the all-too-prevalent narrative that Reform are on an unstoppable march to Downing Street. 

My headline here says it all. We all know this is not a normal by-election. We all know this contest has consequences that some of our readers crave and some are nervous about. But today, we all have to be ‘Clause One Socialists’ – we must hope like hell and fight like hell to win this election.

Today, Makerfield voters have been offered a chance to vote for hope. Today we must all hope that Labour’s fightback begins. We will deal with what comes next tomorrow. 

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