Andy Burnham's gamble to beat Reform in Makerfield and reach Number 10 — and will Reform have to wage war on a reluctant civil service?

The Julia Hartley-Brewer Show · May 18, 2026 · 27m

Keir Starmer is (currently!) vowing to lead Britain through its current crisis — but are his supporters falling away?

James Lyons, Starmer's former Director of Communications at Number 10, joins Julia to dissect the Prime Minister's extraordinary resilience — or delusion, depending on who you ask.

With U-turns piling up, MPs briefing against him, and a leadership circus consuming Westminster, Lyons gives an insider's view of the man at the centre of it all.

Then it's the by-election that has been branded the ‘most significant in 50 years’.

Andy Burnham is heading to Makerfield — a seat that…