Labour's Andy Burnham Navigates Attack-Heavy UK By-Election

LONDON — Britain’s Labour Party has upped its attacks in the pivotal Makerfield by-election. But its candidate, Andy Burnham, is still playing nice.

In the tight June 18 fight for the Greater Manchester seat, Burnham — who is making a dual pitch to be the local MP as well as a potential replacement for Labour’s own prime minister Keir Starmer — has been largely making an upbeat case to voters and insisting he is “just gonna talk about what I’m going to do.”

That’s in stark contrast to a central Labour campaign that’s gone heavily on the attack against its main opponent in the seat, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

POLITICO analysis of the campaign’s media and digital messaging sheds light on the unusual dynamics of a race that could define who gets to run Britain.

This week, Burnham pumped between £1,000 and £1,500 into a Meta campaign promoting positive comments from local residents, and a further £700 highlighting a stump speech talking up his “burning sense of injustice” that the constituency has been left behind by Westminster politics.

Labour’s press team, meanwhile, jumped on a spate of revelations about the Reform candidate Robert Kenyon’s controversial comments on social media.

In a series of posts on X sharing news articles about Kenyon’s remarks, the media team questioned whether voters have only seen “the tip of the iceberg of Robert Kenyon’s appalling views,” and declared him “completely unfit for office” over alleged comments about the “seriousness of Covid.”

A report in the Telegraph newspaper that Kenyon said Russia was “within their rights” to take Crimea prompted a post declaring: “Another day. Another Reform politician found promoting Kremlin talking points.”

Labour spinners have also engaged in a tongue-in-cheek attack on Kenyon, taking an image of him putting up a Reform Party campaign sign in Makerfield and overlaying the text: “Don’t look at my old social media.”

A spokesperson for Burnham declined to comment on the different campaign messaging.

A different tone

Nigel Farage’s Reform Party has also gotten personal, ploughing thousands of pounds into vicious attacks against Burnham since the by-election was triggered last month.

In the last week, it has tested the water with new paid ads on Facebook and Instagram, suggesting the Labour heavyweight is attempting a “power grab” on Westminster.

A separate claw machine-themed ad shows Burnham being selected from a conveyor belt of senior party figures with the tag line: “New face, same old Labour.”

And another paid ad shows a mock-up of a blended bathroom sign alongside the text: “Burnham wants men in women’s toilets.”

The Greater Manchester mayor insisted on social media earlier this week that he wouldn’t be joining in with the personal attacks despite a “difficult” day of being pelted with “all kinds of accusations.”

“The thing is, I could reply in kind and start point scoring about others,” he said. “But no, I’m going to stick to my promise that I said to you at the start of this campaign. I’m just gonna talk about what I’m going to do, what we need to change Labour, cause that is what this campaign is about.”

An artificial intelligence-generated ad posted by Reform UK on Meta — portraying a group of migrants crossing the Channel and holding up a mock Burnham campaign poster stating “Vote Burnham. For Us” — has gone viral on other platforms. And that’s left Burnham unable to fully stick to his promise.

“Are you getting desperate, lad? Maybe keep your crypto millions for something else,” the Labour mayor said in response to the post.

Hitting back at the same content from Reform’s official X account, he added: “Getting worried? Desperate stuff even by your standards.”