Starmer, Polanski and Farage in final pitch to voters as polls open in Gorton and Denton byelection – UK politics live | Politics
Starmer and Polanski claim their party is best placed to beat Reform UK as polls open in Gorton and Denton
Good morning. People in Gorton and Denton on the outskirts of Manchester have started voting in one of the most anticipated and controversial elections of recent years. All polls show that the result will be very close. Political scientists argue that if a party wins such a contest by just a few hundred votes (or perhaps by even fewer votes – Reform UK won last year’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes), it is unreasonable to draw sweeping conclusions about the state of UK politics from an outcome that could easily have gone the other way had it not been for a few random events (e.g. activists do not close the door in a cafe). But policy is not rational; This win will solidify the discourse that will shape the way the main parties do politics in the coming months. (And no matter who wins, the result will confirm that multiparty politics is now trying to work in an electoral system built for two-party politics, which raises questions about the fairness of the results it produces.)
At work Josh Hallidaypreview.
Voting centers opened at 07:00. Unusually, leaders of the three likely winning parties issued personal messages to voters. Keir StarmerPrime Minister and Labor leader and Zack PolanskiThe Green leader claims they are both best placed to defeat Reformation England.
star player in question:
The choice in today’s by-election could not be sharper. Unity or division. Lowering the cost of living with Labor or driving a wedge between Reform communities. Moving forward together or eliminating the anger and division that holds our country back.
Reform’s Matthew Goodwin thinks people of color cannot be British and wants women who choose not to have children to pay more taxes. To rally him and his toxic policies, vote Labor in Gorton and Denton today.
Only Labour’s Angeliki Stogia can unite communities in Manchester and Tameside and stop the Reformation. A vote for the Greens or any other party risks letting Goodwin in through the back door.
And Polanski says:
Labor knows they are in third place. But in the last 48 hours they have gone so far as to obsessively attack the Green Party and even create a fake tactical voting site to spread misinformation.
If you can’t vote today, then join us!https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 26, 2026
And in his statement, Nigel FarageThe Reform England leader said:
Our message on election day is clear.
The Prime Minister is panicked and knows he has broken his promises to the British people.
Vote Reform to ditch Starmer.
Here is the agenda of the day.
9.30: Culture secretary Lisa Nandy answers questions in the House of Commons.
9.30: The Home Office publishes the latest asylum and resettlement figures.
9.30: The Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes homelessness figures.
Morning: Keir Starmer is in the north of England on an educational visit.
11:00: Your party announces the election results to the leadership team, the central executive committee. Like Alexandra Hill According to reports, there is a bitter conflict between the Jeremy Corbyn group and the Zara Sultana group.
11.30: Lobby briefing held in Downing Street.
Noon: Scotland’s first minister John Swinney takes questions from MSPs.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful when readers point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to answer them all, but I will try to answer as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
important events
Lord Advocate to meet Met after misidentified as source of Mandelson information
The Speaker of the House of Lords will meet with the Metropolitan police today after Peter Mandelson was incorrectly identified as the source of information that led to his arrest, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, who holds the title of lord spokesman, was incorrectly said in some media reports to have passed information to police ahead of the former ambassador to Washington’s arrest on Monday on suspicion of abuse of public office.
Lord Mandelson, who was accused of giving sensitive information to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while he was Finance Minister, was released on bail until May.
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle yesterday revealed she was the source of information about Lord Mandelson after media reports suggested the Met had detained her peer because he might be a flight risk.
His lawyers said it was a “baseless suggestion”.
A source in the House of Lords said the lord speaker will hold an urgent meeting with the Met on Thursday and expects to receive an explanation as to how his name was misrepresented.
The source said Lord Forsyth wanted to know why he had not been contacted about the matter, despite media reports attributing the information to him.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs rejected ‘absurd’ criticisms about the rule change that could put dual citizenship in a difficult situation
The Home Office has dismissed as “absurd” claims that it failed to properly communicate new border rules that left some dual British nationals at risk of being prevented from boarding flights to the UK. Lisa O’Carroll reports.
Starmer and Polanski claim their party is best placed to beat Reform UK as polls open in Gorton and Denton
Good morning. People in Gorton and Denton on the outskirts of Manchester have started voting in one of the most anticipated and controversial elections of recent years. All polls show that the result will be very close. Political scientists argue that if a party wins such a contest by just a few hundred votes (or perhaps by even fewer votes – Reform UK won last year’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes), it is unreasonable to draw sweeping conclusions about the state of UK politics from an outcome that could easily have gone the other way had it not been for a few random events (e.g. activists do not close the door in a cafe). But policy is not rational; This win will solidify the discourse that will shape the way the main parties do politics in the coming months. (And no matter who wins, the result will confirm that multiparty politics is now trying to work in an electoral system built for two-party politics, raising questions about the fairness of the results it produces.)
At work Josh Hallidaypreview.
Voting centers opened at 07:00. Unusually, leaders of the three likely winning parties issued personal messages to voters. Keir StarmerPrime Minister and Labor leader and Zack PolanskiThe Green leader claims they are both best placed to defeat Reformation England.
star player in question:
The choice in today’s by-election could not be sharper. Unity or division. Lowering the cost of living with Labor or driving a wedge between Reform communities. Moving forward together or eliminating the anger and division that holds our country back.
Reform’s Matthew Goodwin thinks people of color cannot be British and wants women who choose not to have children to pay more tax. To rally him and his toxic policies, vote Labor in Gorton and Denton today.
Only Labour’s Angeliki Stogia can unite communities in Manchester and Tameside and stop the Reformation. A vote for the Greens or any other party risks letting Goodwin in through the back door.
And Polanski says:
Labor knows they are in third place. But in the last 48 hours they have gone so far as to obsessively attack the Green Party and even create a fake tactical voting site to spread misinformation.
If you can’t vote today, then join us!https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 26, 2026
And in his statement, Nigel FarageThe Reform England leader said:
Our message on election day is clear.
The Prime Minister is panicked and knows he has broken his promises to the British people.
Vote Reform to ditch Starmer.
Here is the agenda of the day.
9.30: Culture secretary Lisa Nandy answers questions in the House of Commons.
9.30: The Home Office publishes the latest asylum and resettlement figures.
9.30: The Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes homelessness figures.
Morning: Keir Starmer is in the north of England on an educational visit.
11:00: Your party announces the election results to the leadership team, the central executive committee. Like Alexandra Hill According to reports, there is a bitter conflict between the Jeremy Corbyn group and the Zara Sultana group.
11.30: Lobby briefing held in Downing Street.
Noon: Scotland’s first minister John Swinney takes questions from MSPs.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful when readers point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to answer them all, but I will try to answer as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
