Farage blames Makerfield defeat on anti-Starmer votes

Farage blames Makerfield defeat on anti-Starmer votes11 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GooglePaul SeddonPolitical reporterReutersNigel Farage says he is disappointed with Reform UK's performance in the Makerfield by-election, as he blamed his party's defeat on a desire among voters to eject Sir Keir Starmer from Downing Street.The Reform leader claimed frustration with the embattled prime minister had driven Andy Burnham's "emphatic" Labour victory over his party's candidate, Rob Kenyon, who finished more than 9,000 votes behind.He also conceded his party had also lost votes to rightwing rival Restore Britain, founded by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe, which finished third in a breakthrough night for the fledgling party.He issued a plea for Restore voters to back Reform instead, as the main "challenger party to the left".Reform had sought to defeat Burnham in the Makerfield seat, giving it a high-profile scalp to boost its credentials as the likely main opposition party to Labour at the next general election.But Burnham increased Labour's majority over Reform in the constituency in a rare feat for a candidate from the governing party.The outgoing mayor of Greater Manchester is now expected to challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership and keys to No 10. He would otherwise be barred from doing so without a seat in Parliament, making the Labour leadership a key issue in the contest in Makerfield, just south of Wigan.In a video clip posted online, Farage said his party's second-place finish was a "disappointing" result, adding Burnham had won the contest with a "vote share that nobody could quite see coming"."In many ways, he's a popular local mayor, just as Boris Johnson was a popular mayor in London just a few years ago," he said. "But what really happened here is it was 'vote Burnham, get Starmer out'."He added that Reform had been "slightly hoist with...