Several reports reference an opinion poll published over the weekend ahead of the Makerfield by-election. The polling indicates Labour’s Andy Burnham leads the race by a small margin. Reform is described as trailing Burnham by about three percentage points. The coverage frames the by-election as competitive and suggests that Reform’s position remains strong despite being behind Labour in the poll. These reports focus on the implications of Reform’s support relative to the Labour lead, but they do not provide additional polling figures, methodology, or turnout expectations beyond the headline comparison. Overall, the sources agree on the core numbers: Burnham is ahead, and Reform is close enough to potentially affect the result, given the narrow gap shown in the poll.