Profiles of the two men contesting the Makerfield seat
While there are 14 candidates contesting the Makerfield by-election, all the polls have shown that there are only two with a chance of winning it.
And it’s fascinating to examine the similarities and differences between Labour’s Andy Burnham and Reform UK’s Rob Kenyon.
They both consider themselves working class, they are both dads and, despite what the latter first claimed, both were born in Merseyside: Mr Burnham in Aintree and Mr Kenyon in Haydock.
But their politics are, of course, very different and so is their experience.
Mr Burnham, 56, entered the by-election fray with a wealth of experience, having been a significant figure on the political scene for a quarter of a century.
He became the MP for Leigh in 2001 when the previous incumbent, the late Lawrence Cunliffe, stepped down, and remained in office for 16 years, during which time he held major cabinet roles including secretary of state for health and for culture, as well as shadown ministerial roles when in opposition.
In 2017 he was elected mayor of Greater Manchester and remains so tonight although if he wins Makerfield he will have to relinquish the position, thus triggering another election.
Mr Kenyon, 41, is a former pupil of St Edmund Arrowsmith High School in Ashton and spent five years in the NHS before becoming a full-time plumber.
He says that he has always had an interest in politics but never thought it would go further than Reform party membership.
However he first had a tilt at the Makerfield seat at the general election in 2024 when Labour’s Josh Simons won and then successfully won a seat on Wigan Council only last month.
A repeated campaign slogan is that he is an “ordinary working man” and that people are fed up with “career politicians.”