When Josh Simons resigned his seat on May 14th, he didn’t just step down; he explicitly vacated the space to clear a path for Andy Burnham. This kind of calculated seat-swapping, where a constituency is treated like a personal asset to be gifted from one party figure to another, leaves a sour taste in the mouth of any voter who still believes in the sanctity of the ballot box.
The whole thing stinks of a massive sense of entitlement. The optics here are difficult to ignore. In a healthy democracy, a by-election is an opportunity for a community to reflect on what it needs from its representative. Instead, this process feels like a “coronation by resignation.”
I really object to the whole “Chosen One” narrative. By positioning the mayor of Greater Manchester as the inevitable successor to both this seat and the role of Prime Minister, the message sent to Makerfield is that this seat is not a platform for local voices, but a strategic pawn in Labour’s national chess game.
It also stinks of democratic convenience. The resignation was orchestrated to suit the ambitions of a high-profile figure, not to address a failure of representation or a change in local sentiment. It treats the electorate as an audience for a pre-written script rather than active participants in their own governance.
What makes this manoeuvre particularly galling is the timing. We are currently witnessing a tangible rise in far-right rhetoric and a growing cynicism toward the political establishment.
When the mainstream parties engage in these “backroom” deals, they inadvertently fuel the very fire they claim to be extinguishing. This starts by validating the cynics. When voters feel that politicians are playing games with their representation, it validates the “they’re all the same” narrative pushed by populist and fringe movements.
It’s also little wonder, if this is how politics is conducted, that we are stuck in a vacuum of trust. If the major parties prioritise internal manoeuvring over genuine, community-led selection, they create a vacuum. In that space, divisive voices find it far easier to gain traction by positioning themselves as the only “authentic” alternative to a detached, entitled elite.
I think we’re used to seeing by-elections as little more than circuses, but this does matter. A constituency is not a family heirloom to be passed down through the party ranks. It is a community of people with specific needs, local concerns, and a right to choose someone who is there to serve them, not someone who is simply looking for a new office to inhabit.
When political parties show such blatant disregard for the spirit of the democratic process, they lose more than just a seat; they lose the trust of the very people they rely on to maintain power. Tomorrow, the people of Makerfield have to decide whether they are content to play a part in someone else’s career plan, or if they’re ready to demand a different kind of politics.