The United Kingdom is set to hold an important by-election on 18 June. Labour MP Josh Simons resigned from his parliamentary seat representing Makerfield last month—a move made in the broader power struggle to replace the deeply unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The vacancy will be filled after a by-election held in two weeks. As part of the campaign, the BBC hosted five of the candidates vying for the seat on their Question Time debate programme.
Restore Britain’s Rebecca Shepherd was not among the invitees, which raised some eyebrows among right-wing circles in the country. However, of the candidates that did make the cut for the programme, Robert Kenyon of Reform UK and Sarah Wakefield of the UK Green Party got the most attention, due to their exchange about the link between mass migration and high housing costs.
‘The idea of blaming our housing crisis on immigration is absolutely wild to me,’ Wakefield stated at the beginning of the discussion that got so much attention online. Her exaggerated facial expressions while saying her piece contributed perhaps just as much to the received mockery as the content of her statements.
Kenyon, who is a plumber by trade, clapped back by asking with a deadpan delivery: ‘Do you think that an extra 10 million is going to have an effect on housing in the UK?’
The Green candidate was not willing to concede the point, to which Kenyon of Reform UK bluntly explained: ‘the more people we have in a country, the more houses you’re going to need.’
After the pushback, Wakefield was ready to give the word to Labour candidate Andy Burnham. However, host Fiona Bruce did not let her off the hook so easily, and pressed her for an answer. As her final word on the subject, Wakefield came up with: ‘Whoever lives in the country has an impact on housing, of course. The number of people in the country, that does not necessarily have to do with immigration.’
Why Did the Makerfield MP Resign?
MP Josh Simons announced his resignation in May, to allow Andy Burnham to contest the seat.
The Labour Party got wiped out in the English local council, Welsh Senedd, and Scottish Parliamentary elections last month, which intensified the calls for PM Starmer to step down within his own party. The incumbent Greater Manchester Mayor Burnham is one of the prime challengers for Starmer’s post. However, he needs to be a member of Labour’s parliamentary group to be able to effectively challenge the Prime Minister for the party’s leadership.
In 2024, Simons carried the Makerfield constituency for Labour by 13.4 points, ahead of Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon, who is running for the seat again, in second place.
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