Burnham's a Blairite to the core, and anyone pinning their hopes on him to reverse the direction of travel clearly didn't learn their lesson from Starmer's campaign (which was admittedly a true masterclass in deceit).

Labour needs burning to the ground as it is never returning to anything even mildly resembling democratic socialism.

A Reform win would still be a disaster, but this seat being given up feels like Burnham walking into a Labour Together (one Wigan lad on bluesky describes it as the most backwards, racist part of the town and that's fucking saying something): Reform did very well there in the recent locals and a loss finishes Burnham as a national politician.