Our friends at the Manchester Evening News have taken over the Northern Agenda podcast today, sharing their reaction to Andy Burnham's by-election victory in Makerfield.

Daniel J. McLaughlin is joined by the MEN's political writer Iram Ramzan and local democracy reporter Declan Carey to discuss the result, what it means for Greater Manchester, and what we can expect for the Labour Party and Reform UK in the near future.

Photo: Getty Images

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Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy joins Rob Parsons on a special episode of The Northern Agenda to discuss why she thinks the North is the perfect destination for the Olympics.

The Wigan MP chats to Rob about regional inequalities, the Makerfield by-election, and reacts to Andy Burnham's thoughts on the state of the Labour Party.

Candidates in the 2026 Makerfield by-election:

Liberal Democrats - Jake Austin

Count Binface Party - Count Binface

Labour Co-op - Andy Burnham

Libertarian - Dan Clarke

Independent - John Dyer

Climate - Ed Gemmell

Independent - Paul Gould

Monster Raving Loony - Howling Laud Hope

Reform - Robert Kenyon

Independent - Robert Pownall

Restore Britain - Rebecca Shepherd

Green - Sarah Wakefield

Rejoin EU - Peter Ward

Conservative - Michael Winstanley

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Fiona McCudden is joined by Manchester Evening News reporter Stephen Topping and Northern Agenda editor Graeme Whitfield in the morning after Hannah Spencer's victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

They discuss how the Green Party won their first ever by-election, the anger felt toward Keir Starmer and the Labour government, and whether it would have made a difference if Andy Burham would have been allowed to run for the Greater Manchester seat.

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On a special edition of the Northern Agenda podcast, Rob Parsons is joined by Beth Abbit of the Manchester Evening News to reflect on a hustings for five of the candidates hoping to be the next MP for Gorton and Denton.

The hopefuls were quizzed on issues like British values, child poverty, immigration, Andy Burnham and even their favourite Oasis song during an hour long debate at the office of the Manchester Evening News.

What were the big talking points for the candidates: Conservative Charlotte Cadden, Matt Goodwin of Reform UK, Jackie Pearcey of the Liberal Democrats, Green Hannah Spencer and Labour's Angeliki Stogia?

Rob and Beth - a constituent in Gorton and Denton - discuss what they learned from the hustings and how the three-horse race is so hard to predict ahead of the vote on February 26.

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Government Minister, metro mayors, journalists and political advisors all gathered in orange hi-vis jackets at a rail depot in Leeds today to hear an announcement by Rachel Reeves they hope will be a game-changer for the North's transport links.
Leeds MP Ms Reeves has promised the Government will set aside £45bn to pay for Northern Powerhouse Rail, the project designed to speed up rail links between the North's big cities. But after so many broken promises, does anyone in the North believe it will actually happen?
On a special edition of the Northern Agenda podcast, Rob Parsons speaks to the Chancellor about why this project is personal for her and what it will mean for the North's economy.
Rail Minister Peter Hendy explains what the announcement will mean for the North's commuters - and are metro mayors Andy Burnham and Tracy Brabin happy with what they've heard?

The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.

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The Northern Agenda podcast goes on location this week, broadcast from the home of the Liverpool Echo as Labour party conference comes to town.
Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp are joined by Jo Timan of the Manchester Evening as they assess a 'flat', 'anxious' and 'confused' annual gathering of the party faithful, dominated by Andy Burnham's antics and the looming spectre of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
​As Keir Starmer makes his big conference speech, Liam has an instant verdict on whether it will be enough to turn round Labour's dismal poll ratings.
Plus, Rob picks up a freebie that makes him look like a dad on holiday...and why are two new towns destined for the North of England neither towns nor very new?

The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp. The podcast is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.

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The Westminster circus is preparing to descend once again on the Liverpool docks as Labour holds its annual party conference at the city's big convention centre.
It'll be five days of political debate, speeches and drinks events for the Labour faithful. But as Keir Starmer tries to rouse his troops and get his stuttering premiership back on track, there's a shadow being cast by a certain Scouse-accented metro mayor and King of the North who may well just steal the limelight.
Will this year's Labour conference turn out to be the Andy Burnham show? Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp discuss it with one of the country's most successful and best-connected political journalists, Patrick Maguire, who as well as being chief political commentator at The Times is a native of nearby Southport.
Patrick will be appearing at the Ilkley Literature Festival on Sunday 19th Oct at 1:15 pm to talk about his book 'Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer', described as a blistering exposé of the most significant and ruthless political transformation in a generation.​ More details here.

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​Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp are back discussing the week's political news from a Northern perspective and there are some big questions to answer.
​As Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell compete to succeed Angela Rayner, does the next deputy leader of the Labour party really need to be a woman from the North? Why is Reform UK planning to axe Northern Powerhouse Rail? And what on earth is the matter with the boxer Tommy Fury?

Plus: as the national debate on immigration becomes ever more toxic, Liam tells us about his conversations with asylum seekers in Liverpool who've risk their lives to come to this country.

The Northern Agenda is presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp. The podcast is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin, and the episode artwork is by Graeme Bandeira.

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​This week, Rob Parsons speaks to Jim McMahon, a Northern politician at the heart of Government.
In the Commons this week - before her tax affairs become engulfed in controversy - Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner made the case to MPs about what she described as "the biggest transfer of power in a generation out of Whitehall to our regions and communities" and an end to "the begging bowl, micro-managing culture".
She's talking about Labour’s English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which will give more powers to existing mayors and see two-tier district and county councils replaced with one body.
Why should we care about this legislation tinkering under the bonnet of our democratic system?

This week on the podcast ​R​ob asked ​M​r McMahon, one of Angela Rayner's team of Ministers in charge of Local Government and Devolution, as well as being an MP in Oldham. He's a former leader of Oldham council too so knows all too well the challenges local politicians face.
​Mr McMahon talks about how these changes are fundamental to Labour's mission in government, what he says about worries they will allow power to be hoarded away from communities, and whether he'd force areas like Lancashire to have a metro mayor.

PLUS: Why he's forcing councils like Sheffield to abandon their committee system of government and what he thinks of Reform UK's decision in Nottinghamshire to ban any communications with their local paper.

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Dr Rebecca Whittington is the online safety editor for Reach, the UK and Ireland's biggest commercial publisher.

Since 2021, she has helped journalists across the country who are receiving online abuse, helping them to develop measures for social media to try and prevent further harassment.

The Yorkshire-based journalist launched a new podcast 'Go Doxx Yourself' in July, which unpicks the human stories behind cyber nightmares.

Rebecca tells Northern Agenda editor Rob Parsons the stories she has heard so far on the podcast, and tips on how to improve your online safety.

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