Andy Burnham was elected member of Parliament (MP) for Makerfield with a huge majority last Thursday. He was sworn in today by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle – just four days later. Andy Burnham will likely become prime minister later this summer. They don't waste time in the UK.

This is in contrast to MAGA toady Speaker Mike Johnson. The Trump mouthpiece in the House of Representatives refused for weeks to swear in Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva who was elected in a special election last year.

Arizona sues over Speaker Mike Johnson's refusal to seat Democrat Adelita Grijalva

Mayor Andy Burnham, called "the King in the North" by his supporters in Manchester, just got elected to a seat in Parliament from the constituency of Makerfield. This means he will become prime minister (probably) in a few weeks pending a Labour leadership challenge. And it also lessens the possibility that there will ever be a Prime Minister Nigel Farage.

The turnout in Makerfield was 58.75% on Thursday. That's up from 52.50% in the 2024 general election. Higher turnouts in by-elections are atypical.

This by-election was hotly contested but in the end it wasn't even close. Burnham got 54.81% of the vote while Robert Kenyon of Farage's Reform UK received 34.51%. Analysts described the result as seismic.

A big win for Burnham - we are in for a lively few days and weeks

Andy Burnham couldn’t have hoped for a better result than this. He’s won and won big time. Granted, this is a seat that has elected Labour MPs for yonks, but just a matter of weeks ago, at the local elections, Reform UK were dominant here. So he can make an argument that in the tussle of our time in politics — between the incumbent party of government, Labour and the insurgent party Reform UK, he is a proven winner. [ ... ] And how does the Labour Party respond to his win? Backbenchers, the cabinet? Is there a stepping up in calls for the prime minister to quit? We are in for a lively few days and weeks ahead.

I love watching constituency results being announced in UK elections. Here is how BBC viewers saw the announcement in Makerfield.

By-elections attract colorful fringe candidates. As the totals were being read out, Andy was in between a candidate known as Lord Binface and an independent animal rights activist named Rob Pownall who was wearing a fox costume.

Lors de l’élection partielle de Makerfield, le parti Reform UK de Nigel Farage subit une défaite cuisante face au travailliste Andy Burnham. Farage, visiblement déçu, a attribué ce revers à la volonté des électeurs d’expulser Keir Starmer de Downing Street. Une analyse qui ne convainc pas tous les observateurs, d’autant que la percée du parti Restore Britain, fondé par un ancien député de Reform,…