Market Overview: This market will resolve to the candidate who wins the Makerfield parliamentary by-election scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, 2026. The Makerfield constituency is located in Greater Manchester, England, and this by-election will determine who represents the constituency in the UK House of Commons.

Resolution Criteria: The winning candidate is defined as the person officially declared elected by the Returning Officer following the completion of the vote count at the designated count venue. Resolution will occur once the official result is publicly announced. The candidate who receives the most votes under the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system will be declared the winner.

Candidates Included: This market includes sub-markets for each confirmed candidate standing in this by-election: Andy Burnham, Maria Deery, Simon Finkelstein, James Thomas Bryer, Rebecca Shepherd, Robert Kenyon, and John Skipworth. Each individual candidate sub-market resolves to Yes if that specific candidate wins the by-election, and resolves to No otherwise. Only one candidate sub-market can resolve to Yes.

Voting and Count Process: Polling stations will be open from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM GMT on election day. The count typically begins shortly after polls close, with results usually announced in the early hours of the following morning. This market will resolve once the official declaration is made.

Postponement Provisions: If the by-election is postponed to a later date within the calendar year 2026, this market will remain open and will resolve based on the rescheduled election result. All sub-market end times will be adjusted accordingly to reflect the new election date.

Cancellation and Default Resolution: If the by-election is cancelled entirely, if no candidate is declared elected, or if the official result is not definitively known by December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM GMT (UTC+0), this market resolves to "Other" and all individual candidate sub-markets resolve to No.

Primary Resolution Source: Official election results published by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council at their official website: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/. The council serves as the local authority responsible for administering elections in the Makerfield constituency.

Secondary Resolution Sources: In the event the primary source is unavailable or delayed, credible reporting from the following authoritative sources may be used to confirm the outcome: BBC News Election Coverage at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election, the Electoral Commission at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/, PA Media (Press Association) election results service, UK Parliament official records at https://www.parliament.uk/, and Sky News at https://news.sky.com/.

Legal Challenges and Disputed Results: If the election result is subject to an official legal challenge, election petition, or judicial review, resolution may be delayed until the legal process concludes. If legal proceedings are ongoing beyond December 31, 2026, the market will resolve based on the most recent officially declared result, unless that result has been formally overturned by a court.

Dispute Resolution: If the official results become unavailable, are legally contested, or remain disputed beyond the resolution deadline, this market may be resolved based on credible consensus reporting from multiple authoritative sources listed above. All resolution disputes will follow the platform's standard dispute resolution process and procedures.

Timezone Information: All times and dates referenced in this market and its associated sub-markets are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT / UTC+0). During British Summer Time (BST), the UK operates on UTC+1; however, all deadlines in these rules refer to GMT/UTC+0 for consistency and clarity.

Additional Notes: This market does not account for any subsequent changes to the elected Member of Parliament after the initial declaration (such as resignation, recall, or disqualification). Only the initial by-election result determines market resolution.