Green Party names Makerfield by-election candidate

The Green Party has picked a candidate for the Makerfield by-election, but according to senior party sources reportedly won’t invest significant resources in contesting the election.

This comes after former Green leader Caroline Lucas wrote on X that she hoped the Greens would “put country before party” and not “properly contest” the election.

The Green Party has announced nurse and local campaigner Chris Kennedy as its candidate in the by-election on 18 June.

As reported by the Financial Times, senior party sources have said they don’t want to be blamed for splitting the progressive vote and allowing Reform UK to win the Makerfield seat.

A senior Green party figure told the FT: “We do not want this one to go to Reform, and to be quite frank we do not want Labour to be able to turn around and say ‘if you vote Green, you’re actually voting Reform’ because that will be used for the next three years.”

They added: “It should be a case of standing but saying, actually, this isn’t going to be a big priority or a Green target.”

Andy Burnham’s team reportedly contacted the Green Party over the weekend to find out how the party plans to approach the by-election. 

Some sources believe that the party has missed out on an opportunity to seek concessions or policy commitments from Burnham’s team. 

In 2024, the Greens won 4% of the vote, while Labour took 45% and Reform 32%. 

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said that “people must have the choice to vote for the candidate of their choice”.

He also said that the Green Party will use the by-election “to press Andy Burnham on what kind of MP and Prime Minister he would be, given his mixed track record”.

The Green Party leader hinted to interviews this week in which Burnham said he would not scrap first past the post before the next general election. He has also said he would stick to Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules.

With Reform predicted to secure a large share of the vote and the Green Party and Lib Dems standing, Burnham still has a steep hill to climb to win the seat. 

In Makerfield, Britain Predicts has put support for each party as follows:

Reform: 41%

Labour: 28%

Green: 12%

Conservative: 8%

Lib Dem: 7%

However, another forecast by Survation suggests that Burnham could narrowly win in Makerfield. 

The forecast predicted that with Burnham as the candidate, there would be a 67% chance of a Labour win, with Labour on 45% of the vote and Reform in second place on 42% of the vote. 

Furthermore, the forecast suggested that without Burnham, Labour’s probability of winning would drop to 0%.

Image credit: Green Party

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward