On Thursday, Makerfield is hosting arguably the most consequential by-election in memory.
If he wins, Andy Burnham will challenge Keir Starmer for the Labor leadership – and attempt to rescue the party and government from its current malaise.
If he loses, Labor will have no answer to the reform surge of the past two years. Nigel Farage’s party may have bid farewell to Labour’s most popular politician, and Farage himself looks closer to Number 10 than ever.
Helen Pidd Head to Makerfield to hear from voters, and speak to the Guardian’s North of England editor, josh holidayAbout how British politics could look very different on a Friday morning.
