The Makerfield Bye Election in June 2026

On 7th May 2026 here in the UK the Labour party got what could best be described as a “good kicking” in the local elections.

Sadly, it has to be emphasised repeatedly that these elections are held so local populations can choose who they want to represent them at parish, town, regional and county level. They are not a mid-term elections as would happen in America. They are not meant to be a referendum about the current Government and they are most definitely not a mandate for there to be a General Election. Despite all of these limiting factors these local elections were hi-jacked by some parties for just those reasons and not for dealing with potholes, street lighting, local policing and many more public services that are within the remit of these local authorities.

In the run up to these local elections there were rumblings, which are ongoing, that the current Prime Minister should put himself forward for a leadership contest if and when one is triggered.

One of the possible contenders in this contest is Andy Burnham. Before even considering this leadership role he has one slight hurdle that has to be overcome. That is, he is not a Member of Parliament.

How convenient then that within days of the local election results a Labour MP should resign from his seat for three reasons. He wants to spend more time with his family. He doesn’t believe the current Government is listening to the people. And he wants to make way for Andy Burnham to take part in a bye election in his constituency, Makerfield near Manchester, which if he wins he could use as a basis to launch a leadership contest.

That MP is or was Josh Simmons. He was new to Parliament in the 2024 election which swept Labour to power with a majority of a stonking one hundred and sixty six seats. The ex-MP for Makerfield won his seat with a majority of over five thousand.

I can sort of understand him wanting to spend more time with his family. He is an intelligent man with a degree from Cambridge in “Social and Political Science”. He then went on to Harvard to complete his doctorate in “Government, Political Theory and Political Science”. He published his thesis as a book with the title “Algorithms for The People: Democracy in The Age of AI”. In 2022 he was appointed as a director of the think tank “Labour Together”.

With all of that academic success and his appointment to Labour Together before the General Election in 2024, he must have had enough exposure to how gruelling it is to be a professional politician well be fore he decided to start campaigning for Parliament back in June 2024. So, to cry “I need more time with my family” doesn’t quite land sincerely.

His second reason for resigning was that the current Prime Minister was not listening to the people. As with his first reason for resigning this one does lands with as much insincerity. He was elected in July 2024 primarily as a back bench Member of Parliament representing all of his constituents in Makerfield regardless of who they voted for in July. Part of his role was to hold regular surgeries in the constituency, attend other political and non-political functions. These would have had to have been conducted in addition to his Governmental appointments.

Surely at those non-Governmental interactions with his constituents, he would have been made aware of their concerns over the cost of living, the country’s involvement or non-involvement in the Middle East war, energy, state pensions and every other issue that affects their day to day lives. Afterall, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office in 2025 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Digital Government for a couple of months in early 2026. Both of those positions, especially the one with the Cabinet Office, must have given him the opportunities to convey feedback from his constituency to the relevant cabinet member and even the Prime Minister himself.

There were reports in early 2026 that Josh Simmons had given names of journalists to the British security services of journalists who had written critical articles about the think tank, Labour Together. Following an enquiry, he was cleared of any wrongdoing but still resigned his Cabinet positions soon after on the grounds that the affair would be a “distraction” from the work of government.

I cannot help feeling that this resignation from the House of Commons is a disingenuous act on the part of Josh Simmons. He was elected in all good faith to represent the people of his constituency, regardless of their political allegiances, until the next General Election by July 2029. Yet, and despite a majority of five or six thousand, he has vacated the seat. By resigning this early during his term I believe he has failed in his duty as public servant and instead should have toughed it out.

By resigning to make way for Andy Burnham he has incurred the risk of Labour losing the Makerfild seat to a nascent REFORM party. What a scalp for that party if they were able to snatch it away from Labour. If this happened who would get the blame? No doubt it would land at the black door in Downing Street but if anyone bothered to carry out some root cause analysis the real blame for such a calamitous outcome should land with both Josh Simmons and Andy Burnham.

PS As of 23rd May 2026 less than a month before the Makerfield bye election takes place on 18th June it is noticeable that Andy Burnham has not resigned as Mayor of Greater Manchester to give him time to concentrate on this crucial election. Is he hedging his bets?