Eoghan Dalton Reports from Makerfield
GLOBAL MEDIA HAVE descended on a UK town in expectation of what many believe to be the “most consequential” byelection in British political history, with the result of the Makerfield vote looking increasingly likely to result in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s exit from Downing Street.
With a population of about 26,000, roughly the same as Kilkenny or Ennis, Ashton-in-Makerfield is the main urban area in the constituency – and the core attraction for news crews and Westminster’s political parties this past month.
Polls suggest this Thursday’s vote is shaping up to be a two-horse race between Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Reform’s local councillor Rob Kenyon.
While in normal circumstances Starmer would greet a win for his party, it could spell doom in this case, as Burnham is gunning for No 10. His political demise is believed to have been expedited after defence secretary John Healey’s shock resignation last week.
Nigel Farrage’s Reform have been Labour’s clear rival having swept recent local elections in the area at Labour’s expense.
The Journal spoke to local residents in the north-western English town – located about midway between Manchester and Liverpool – about the dramatic attention heaped on the area.
Among those getting calls to talk has been newsagent Steve Broadhurst, who has seen journalists from across the world darken his door in the past month and even been roped into focus groups for broadcasters trying to gauge the mood in the constituency.
“It’s a very strange one,” Broadhurst told The Journal.
“I mean here we’ve had CNN, we’ve had Bloomberg, Swiss news, Swedish news – they’ve all been. It’s bizarre.”
Some residents were “getting a bit tired of it” and hoping for it to end soon, Broadhurst added.
The glut of foreign journalists has impacted on some local reporters, with a team from one newspaper struggling this afternoon to get anyone to talk after many residents had grown weary of the media presence.
Looking on the bright side was long-time resident Connie Collier, who recounted how Australian media have been doing Vox pops in her estate. She has passed the word to family living Down Under to keep an eye out for her on the news.
Collier told The Journal:
I used to have to tell people that this place was sort of between Manchester and Liverpool, but I don’t think I have to do that anymore.
A short walk from the town centre, retired haulier Albert Bretherton was interrupted by The Journal while working on a gate for his house.
“I’m sick of you lot,” Bretherton told us, before adding: “But I know you’re a working man so I’ll talk to you.”
The Reform voter has already seen Japanese, French and Swedish journalists knocking on his door, all likely drawn to his door by a prominent Make Britain Great Again flag flying over his home.
“Norwegians were here on Saturday, plus the local ones,” Bretherton added.
It would alienate customers’
However, the attention is becoming exhausting for some. One café owner fielding a number of calls at lunchtime on Monday from newsrooms who wanted to send a photographer and camera crews to speak to customers ahead of the vote.
Most of the newsrooms are given the greenlight, she said, but added that her business does not want to give their take on the election. “It would only alienate some customers,” the woman said.
In the same premises, one young man could be heard complaining, not about the media, but about the political party campaign teams that he believes are disconnected from the local area.
While the constituency is called Makerfield and the town includes the name, a number of locals were clearly annoyed about ‘Ashton’ getting dropped during political debate.
“These men in suits coming in and calling it Makerfield. What’s a ‘Makerfield’? The town is Ashton.”
The Journal will be reporting more from the Makerfield constituency this week.