Celebrating his return to the House of Commons after securing more votes than all his opponents put together, Andy Burnham said his new constituency would be his ‘touchstone’ and never just ‘a stepping stone’.

Promising to put ‘a Makerfield test at the heart of British politics’, the outgoing Mayor of Greater Manchester said the string of small towns south of Wigan was exactly the type of ‘neglected’ area which needed ‘fairness’ from Westminster.

As the predominantly white, working class constituency’s 100,000-strong population prepared for an exodus of the camera crews and reporters who have swamped it for the past four weeks, some rival voters said today that they had backed Mr Burnham purely to give him a ‘stepping stone’ to oust Sir Keir Starmer.

However many were sceptical about whether the former Labour cabinet minister would genuinely continue to champion their cause if he manages to succeed him as Prime Minister.

John and Lynn Seddon backed Labour this time having stopped voting after losing faith in politicians, saying Mr Burnham was on ‘probation’.

‘There’s so much that’s wrong with this country and someone needs to fix it,’ said Mrs Seddon, 65, of Hindley Green.

‘We’ve given him our vote so that he has the chance to force Starmer out, and I think he probably will.

‘It will be a probation period, that’s how I see it.

‘Andy Burnham will have two-and-a-half years to show he can do a better job than Starmer, and if he can’t then Labour will lose the next general election.

‘Hopefully the people of Makerfield will have done the whole country a favour. Time will tell!’

Her husband, 67, a maintenance worker, said: ‘I was surprised by how big Labour’s margin of victory was, but I don’t think Reform were properly prepared.

‘They got complacent because they thought they would win here.’

Anthony McCullough, 44, a construction worker from Ashton-in-Makerfield, switched from Reform to Labour because he wanted to see Sir Keir ousted.

'I don't like Andy Burnham or what he stands for, but I dislike Starmer and what he's done to this country even more,' he said. 

'Voting Labour will have been worth it if he's kicked out as prime minister, but I'll definitely be going back to Reform at the next election.' 

Pharmacy worker Tracey Edwards, 63, from Bryn, said: ‘I don’t normally vote, but I backed Andy Burnham because I want to see Starmer out of Downing Street.

‘The country’s in a mess, there’s too many illegal immigrants, and there’s no way Keir Starmer is going to get things heading in the right direction.

‘When Andy speaks, it sounds like he means it.

‘He’s given us hope, and he should have the opportunity to show us whether he can do a better job as prime minister.’

Carer Dale Foster, 31, from Bryn, stuck with Reform but wasn’t surprised that Mr Burnham swept the board.

‘People feel like Andy Burnham is one of their own, but he doesn’t care about Ashton-in-Makerfield, he’s only interested in becoming Prime Minister,’ he said.

‘He says winning here isn’t just a stepping stone for him to win power, but I think that’s exactly what it is.

‘If Burnham does replace Starmer then I think we should have a general election so the country can have its say.’

Eileen Wright, 83, from Hindley, voted Labour at the last general election but switched to the Conservatives this time around as she didn’t feel she could back Mr Burnham.

‘Andy Burnham seems a nice person, but I just don’t trust him to do what he says he’ll do,’ she said.

Lifelong Labour voter Sue Cahill, 75, a retired prison officer, said she had no qualms about supporting the party again in a by-election prompted by sitting MP Josh Simons resigning.

‘Andy’s got the common touch, he’s genuine and I trust him,’ she said.

‘He’s done a good job in Manchester as the mayor and now it sounds like the rest of the country will get the chance to see what he can do.’

Vicky McPherson, 48, voted Labour up until the last general election when she switched to Reform, and she stuck with Nigel Farage’s party on Thursday.

‘People around here have supported Labour for as long as I can remember, but it’s done nothing for us,’ she said.

‘I hoped Reform would win here after doing well in the council elections in May, so I’m disappointed with the result.

‘But I still hope Andy Burnham becomes prime minister, he can’t do any worse than Starmer!’

John Simpkin, 71, and his wife Kath, 70, both voted Reform having backed Labour in the past.

‘This by-election was totally unnecessary,’ said Mr Simpkin, an engineer.

‘There’s no point changing prime minister if the policies stay the same.

‘We need a change of direction, taxes and immigration need to come down.’

Mrs Simpkin added: ‘We’re very disappointed that Andy Burnham won by so much, but not particularly surprised.’