Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images If Labour’s National Executive does as its members – and, indeed, much of the voting public – demand, then the battle for Makerfield could emerge as one of the most totemic and decisive parliamentary by-elections in modern British history. The decision by former Labour Together chair Josh Simons to vacate the seat and throw his weight behind Andy Burnham was not high on my bingo card for this year. Yet the logic behind the move is clear. And in Burnham’s own statement, no one could be in any doubt about the nature of this pitch: it is a pitch for Prime Minister. But it is a difficult proposition. In the recent local elections, the Makerfield constituency voted 50 per cent Reform and 23 per cent Labour. Reform’s vote share was more than double Labour’s. The Greens polled 11 per cent. The Britain Predicts model for a general election offers Labour a somewhat stronger showing, but still an uncomfortable one: Reform on 41 per cent to Labour’s 28 per cent.…