On Makerfield

In the end, it wasn’t even close. I rarely talk about politics here. Not real reason – I believe we should talk more about politics and how things affect us: a blanket “no politics” rule kills a safe space for marginalised communities, but for whatever reason I feel like the permanent nature of blogs and the temporary nature of public opinion means it may bite you in the bum at a later date1. Nevertheless, was happy waking up to read Andy Burnham – the mayor of Manchester – won the Makerfield by election and therefore has a definitive path to become prime minister. There has been genuine change in Manchester: the busses are now yellow to match the trams and have clear branding promoting £2 bus fares, and homelessness is at the very least a lot less visible and at most almost eradicated. The city has transformed over the past 10 years, and Andy Burnham spearheaded it. Between that, the work he did for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and how visible he was during COVID and in the…