We are not so much in the Keir Starmer end game now as the “exit, stage left” moment of Downing Street departure. I visited Makerfield at the weekend, assessing the mood among voters along the scruffy high street of Ashfield-in-Makerfield, with its pawnbroker, kebab shops and tattoo parlours; in the giant retail park dominated by a huge Sainsbury’s on the road to Wigan; and the leafy pubs and car parks around Haydock Park’s smart race course. 

It will come as little surprise to those who know Rupert Lowe that he set up Restore’s by-election army camp – some 900- 1000 canvassing troops from across the UK showed up in the sunshine on Saturday morning, and helpers even flew in from Hong Kong, Poland and Melbourne (the latter all-week) – in a series of tents in the Owners & Trainers car park. Standing by the tents, like a general’s chariot, was a new gun metal Land Rover Defender in full Restore livery with a navy flag on the back saying “Rupert Lowe for Prime Minister.”

“Walking around Ashfield-in-Makerfield felt like being in Putney for the Varsity Boat Race. Restore’s supporters all decked out in smart dark blue sweatshirts and baseball caps, Reform in light teal blue”

When I asked a small band of Restore activists in The Bay Mare pub, near Haydock race course, at lunch how they were polling across the by-election seat, the chef de band, a builder volunteer, claimed “15 to …