Michael Winstanley — Conservative Candidate

Michael Winstanley — Conservative Candidate

Update 10 Jun: Telegraph profile: "It's lonely in Makerfield when your odds are 1,000-1" (8 Jun) — canvassing in Orrell, effectively a spectator. HuffPost: "Tory Humiliated By Makerfield Poll" — Conservatives "nowhere in sight." Cons polling ~1% in Survation — total collapse. BBC 14-candidate Q&A published (10 Jun). Kemi Badenoch endorsement (20 May) still circulating but irrelevant., Makerfield By-Election 2026

| Last updated: 27 May 2026 (new: full candidate list confirmed; Blair endorses Burnham setting context for Tory absence) By-election date: Thursday 18 June 2026

Bio

How They Got Selected

Named as Conservative candidate on 20 May 2026. Selected amid questions over Kemi Badenoch's approach to the by-election — the Conservatives have been largely absent from the campaign narrative, with the race dominated by Labour vs Reform.

Polling

What It Means

The Conservative vote in Makerfield has collapsed. Once a Labour-Conservative marginal, the party is now a fringe presence — polling at just 2% and being squeezed by both Reform UK (right) and Labour (centre-left). The Tories are effectively spectators in this by-election.

Twitter/X Discussion

Source: Nitter search, May 2026

Winstanley gets modest Twitter coverage, mostly from Wigan locals and Conservative accounts. Key themes:

• Former Mayor of Wigan: "Michael Winstanley, he's a former Mayor of Wigan and a really good candidate to have. Sadly he'll be squeezed out of the picture by a bloke with questions to answer about how he refers to women and a bloke who is only doing this to further his career. It's all so wrong." — a local defending him against the national circus
• Conservative Party promo: Conservative accounts tweet about him positively — "Michael Winstanley, Conservative candidate for the Makerfield by-election, is sending the right message loud and clear — we are the party with the best plans and the serious vision for Britain"
• Squeezed candidate narrative: Widely predicted to come 5th or 6th, with one tweet predicting him to be "ahead of Labour" only as a joke. Multiple tweets question why Tories should even bother: "Shouldn't you as a Conservative be supporting Michael Winstanley?"
• Loony Party comparison: "Do you think that the Tory party in the by election in Makerfield will get more votes than the Monster Raving Loony Party?" — the fact this is a genuine question reflects how far the Tory vote has collapsed
• "DESTROYED over Tory immigration record" (22 May, reshared 24-25 May): A Vox Populi video showed Winstanley being challenged on the Conservative immigration record by activist Will Coleshill — shared by right-wing populist media
• Kemi Badenoch's promo (20 May, still circulating): The Conservative leader tweeted directly promoting Winstanley: "Makerfield deserves a credible voice in Parliament, someone focused on delivering proper border security, lower taxes and a government that is actually on your side."
• Polling joke: One user's prediction had "every other candidate (Jake Austin, Michael Winstanley, Alan 'Howlin' Laud Hope) ahead of Labour" as a set — lumping Winstanley in with the Loony Party candidate
• Conservative Party promo (still circulating 26 May): "Michael Winstanley, Conservative candidate for the Makerfield by-election, is sending the right message loud and clear — we are the party with the best plans and the serious vision for Britain"
• 26 May Nitter confirmations: No new Winstanley-specific developments. The Conservative campaign remains invisible in the race. Some Tory accounts continue to promote him quietly but with negligible engagement.
• 27 May — full candidate list confirmed: Winstanley is one of 10 candidates on the ballot. Former PM Tony Blair's intervention (backing Burnham but criticising Starmer's Government) dominated the day's political news — further squeezing the Conservative campaign out of headlines. Blair's essay on the Labour Government being in its "comfort zone" offered Tories little comfort as a rallying point for Winstanley's campaign.

Reddit Discussion

Barely discussed on Reddit. When mentioned, it's usually in the context of how far the Conservatives have fallen in their former heartlands. The "2% polling" figure is cited as evidence of the party's existential crisis in the North.

• BBC — Conservatives name Michael Winstanley
• The Telegraph — Questions over Kemi Badenoch's approach to Makerfield
• PollCheck — Makerfield By-Election

5 June 2026

• Appeared on BBC Question Time Makerfield special (4 Jun) as Conservative candidate
• Survation #2 poll: 1% (-1 from first poll)