Anthony Barnett’s

Notes On Now

Canvassing in Makerfield

I went to Brussels for the 10th anniversary of Brexit. But before that I was in Makerfield to help get out the vote on polling day. I’m not a member of a political party. But I feared a far-right victory. And I wasn’t going to sit in the south lamenting something I might have helped prevent.

I joined Labour MP Clive Lewis, Sam Tarry, and Jeremy Gilbert on 18 June as we knocked on doors to get out the vote for Andy Burnham. My worst fears seemed confirmed.

Far too few houses, perhaps one in eight, were listed as supporters, although all had been canvassed. Reform UK posters and lollipops outnumbered those with ‘Vote Hope Vote Andy’ in their window. Kitted out in their distinctive light blue, Reform canvassers seemed to also outnumber us.

At the end of the day, a shrewd local resident reassured us. A supporter of Clive’s campaign to bring water into public ownership, he’d said the Faragists made the most noise but that a majority was determined to vote them down.