"Burnham is Labour's last trick" | Reform board member Gawain Towler speaks to David Starkey

This week I was rejoined by Reform board member Gawain Towler, who had spent the day before campaigning in Makerfield ahead of next month's by-election.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Makerfield by-election. In Andy Burnham, Labour believes it has found their last hope of remaining in office beyond 2029. They're desperate to prove that voters have merely been hoodwinked by Reform and Nigel Farage, and that an "authentic" Labour voice can win them over again.

It's funny really, because Burnham is in fact the most inauthentic candidate Labour could have chosen. Although he zealously cultivates the image of a working-class hero, Burnham is thoroughly middle-class, and went to the same Cambridge college that I did. Now, allow me to say that I firmly believe class should be irrelevant, but if one is going to play that card, please don't be dishonest about it.

The Reform candidate, on the other hand, is as true to his Makerfield roots as it's possible to be. Robert Kenyon is a self-employed plumber who served as a reserve soldier and fiercely supports Wigan Warriors. His occasionally ribald contributions on social media only prove that he is, in fact, a real person, and not a shape-shifter like his Labour rival. I wish him all the best in this David versus Goliath fight.