Sea Change In Britain: 'A Triumph Over Hate'
Results of a by-election last night in the Northern England area of Makerfield is reminding me of that Marci Shore aphorism: "It's time for the good guys to start winning." A roundup from Byline Times
***Please take out a membership to support the light of truth.***
At the 2025 Byline Festival, I was introduced to the Mayor of Greater Manchester, England, Andy Burnham. Byline Times co-founder, Peter Jukes, told me, “You have to go hear him speak.” Whispers in that July heatwave that Burnham could be the future leader of the Labour Party and even Prime Minister.
I recall the goodness of his speech — the themes of truth and democracy, decency and the ‘duty of candour’ for public servants. Words as balms on ears weary of ugly division.
So when I woke up to a flurry of headlines from my colleagues at Byline Times about Makerfield voters rejecting ‘Nigel Farage’s Politics of ‘Pure Cold Rage’ I heard Marci Shores’s words in my head: “it’s time for the good guys start winning.” One down.
Makerfield voters chose their new MP — they chose Labour’s Andy Burnham.
As Byline Political Editor Adam Bienkov wrote in today’s Byline Times:
In the end it wasn’t even close.
After a campaign in which the British press focused relentlessly on the question of whether or not Rupert Lowe and the far-right would somehow “gift” the result to Labour, Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election by a massive majority of over 20 points.
The result marks not just a clear rejection of the politics of “pure cold rage” called for by Nigel Farage during the campaign, but also a rejection of the cosy media consensus that his party is somehow inevitably heading for Government…
Reform’s candidate was an ill-prepared bigot whose long history of misogynistic comments played terribly amongst voters in the constituency…
Byline Times columnist Peter Oborne’s headline read:
‘Burnham is a Giant Step Backwards to a Better Sort of British Politics’
Oborne wrote:
Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster creates a new political arithmetic. It opens a fresh set of political horizons. It gives hope not just to Labour but to Britain…Andy Burnham will be in Downing Street soon. He can succeed and anyone who loves Britain will hope he does so.
But he can only succeed by adopting a new kind of politics. And that means turning the clock back 50 years.”
Labour MP Clive Lewis wrote in today’s Byline Times:
At the last Constituency Labour Party meeting, I told members that the future of Labour hinged on Makerfield. Not just the party. The Government too.
If Reform UK won this heartland seat, a place Labour had already been told it had lost, its victory would not stop there. It would harden the story Reform wants the UK to believe: that the old Labour towns have gone; that the ‘Red Wall’ has collapsed; and Nigel Farage’s party is no longer a protest vehicle but the next force in British politics.
That is why the by-election mattered.
In his victory speech, Burnham pledged to “lay out a new path for Britain,” a speech largely seen as a pitch to become the next Prime Minister.
I think often about the power of the independent press — how the Byline Times effectively ended the career of Boris Johnson by relentlessly reporting on the PartyGate scandal, until his lawbreaking excesses during Covid could not be ignored.
In a post-election Substack live with Byline Podcast host Adrian Goldberg, he called it: ‘A triumph over hate.
I immediately adjusted my headline.
****
****
Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members.
I expose the corruption of billionaire fascists, while relying on memberships for support.
Thank you in advance for considering the following:
Share my reporting with allies
Buying my ebooks
A private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous/gmail. 🥹
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
🤍
Begin each day with a grateful heart.
🤍
John Oliver did a report on this, good to hear the results are with Labor!