The Rejoin EU Party is pleased to announce that barrister Peter Ward is to stand as its candidate in the Makerfield parliamentary by-election.

The by-election was called after Labour MP Josh Simons decided to stand down and make way for Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to contest the seat.

However, Burnham has reportedly said he won’t be campaigning during the election for the UK to rejoin the EU (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/18/andy-burnham-says-he-will-not-try-to-return-uk-to-eu) and therefore the Rejoin EU Party has decided to stand.

Rejoin EU believes Burnham’s stance is implausible and that he and his Labour colleagues will stand no realistic chance of achieving the significant boost to the economy that they and the country so badly need without at least rejoining the single market, customs union and ultimately the EU itself.

Rejoining would slash Brexit red tape and make it infinitely easier for people and businesses to travel, work, live and trade in continental Europe.

Ward said he has long advocated electoral reform and will be pushing during the Makerfield campaign for the introduction of proportional representation in general elections.

He also said Brexit showed that referendums were “bad ways of making bad decisions”.

“This party advocates immediate negotiations with the EU and a return to membership as soon as possible,” he added.

Party chairman Brendan Donnelly said: “Rejoining the EU has come back into the British political debate in a big way. The Rejoin EU Party intends to make a full contribution to this discussion. That’s why we’re standing in Makerfield.

“In addition to that, in recent months it’s become increasingly clear that our EU partners will want to be sure that once back in the EU, the UK won’t leave again at a later date.

“The Rejoin EU Party believes a new voting system is necessary to guarantee future political stability in the UK.

“We’ll therefore be stressing in our campaign the need for the UK rapidly to move towards a system of proportional representation.”

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—Find out more by visiting https://therejoineuparty.com and following us on Twitter at @rejoinp and at https://www.facebook.com/RejoinEUPartyThe Rejoin EU Party is campaigning to re-join the EU because we believe re-joining is the only way to solve the multiple problems Brexit has created. Brexit is broken and it’s breaking our country too. All the promises on which Brexit was sold to the electorate in 2016 were nonsense. Far from reducing red tape and providing £350m a week for the NHS, Brexit makes trading with the crucial European market more complex, difficult and expensive and threatens to reduce funding for public services. If you agree Brexit is making our country poorer, less tolerant and less united, join us and send a message to Westminster that you want your EU membership back, with all its freedoms and benefits.

Promoted by Richard Hewison for the Rejoin EU Party, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE.