IT was the Green Party’s finest electoral hour, romping home in the Gorton and Denton by-election to upend British politics.
Yet, they stand accused of opening the Pandora’s Box of sectarianism to achieve the stunning result in what was one of the most toxic polls in recent times.
Independent observers claimed to have witnessed “extremely high” cases of illegal “family voting” in the south Manchester suburb with a high Muslim population.
This is the practice when family members enter a voting booth together and one tells the other how to vote.
It can involve a husband and wife and is a criminal offence.
Nigel Farage rounded on the Greens – who ran on a pro Palestine ticket – insisting theirs was a victory for “sectarian voting and cheating”.
NIGEL BLAST
Farage slams ‘cheating’ amid fear of illegal ‘family voting’ in by-election
JULIA HARTLEY-BREWER
Greens’ policies would destroy UK – but here’s why I’m glad they won
The Reform UK leader said that family voting presented “serious questions” about the integrity of the ballot in “predominantly Muslim areas”.
Democracy Volunteers – the poll observer group accredited by the Electoral Commission – said they had seen “the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK”.
Manchester City Council have insisted “no such issues have been reported”.
Reform’s Gorton candidate Matt Goodwin, who finished second to the Greens, said: “I am deeply concerned about the extent to which the Gorton and Denton by-election is a free, fair, and democratic election.”
Yet, the Green’s success in Gorton – their vote was up by a staggering 28 per cent from 2024 – suggests their style of campaigning may be here to stay.
Their success follows the election of four independent MPs on a pro-Gaza platform in the 2024 general election.
The Greens tailored their message to the more than a quarter of potential voters in the constituency who are Muslim, with almost a fifth of whom are believed to have roots in Pakistan.
They published electoral videos and leaflets in Urdu, the national language of Pakistan.
Campaign leaflets featured a photo of their candidate Hannah Spencer wearing a red and black keffiyeh – a scarf worn by supporters of the Paletinian cause – while posing in front of a mosque.
Written in English, the material included the words: “Stop Islamophobia. Stop Reform.”
And, in Urdu, the leaflet stated: “Labour must be punished for Gaza.”
What are Green Party’s bonkers policies? From ‘disgusting’ plan to legalise heroin to letting in ALL illegal migrants
THE Green Party has been blasted for “disgusting” plans following their bombshell victory last night.
Fighting for his political life yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer made a last minute attack on the Greens in an attempt to sway voters.
But it was unsuccessful, with Labour coming third – and the result provided an opening for Andy Burnham‘s allies to claim things could have been different if he had been allowed to stand.
The Greater Manchester Mayor – a challenger to Starmer – tried to stand in the constituency but was blocked by Labour’s ruling executive committee.
The Gorton and Denton result signals a serious cracking of Britain’s two-party politics, with Reform and the Greens gaining more power and validity.
But it has cast a light on the policies of both parties – with the Greens coming under fire for plans on drugs and immigration.
Yesterday, Sir Keir came out swinging and told PMQs: “The Green Party’s policy isn’t just irresponsible, it’s reprehensible, legalising cocaine, heroin, ketamine and the date rape drug, GHB, a drug which we know is used to spike drinks for women.
“I have to say, as the father of a 17-and-a-half-year-old son, that the idea that the argument is being made by the Greens that when he turns 18, in just a few months, it would be lawful to provide him with heroin and crack cocaine is absolutely disgusting.”
Green candidate Hannah Spencer has previously said she thought “decriminalising is a conversation that we need to have”.
Last year, the leader of the Greens said that all drugs – including heroin and crack cocaine – should be legalised.
The Mail has also reportedly seen documents drawn up by the Greens that suggest giving amnesty to illegal migrants.
It reported that Zack Polanski plans to let illegal arrivals use the NHS from the moment they land in the UK as part of a “world without borders”.
This would apply even if their asylum claim was rejected.
Internal documents read that “migration is not a criminal offence under any circumstances”, the Mail reports.
Detention centres for illegal migrants would also be abolished in the plans.
The Greens would also give them a wage on the level of benefits – but without the usual requirement to be in work or actively seek work.
Reform, Labour and the Tories all blasted the scheme as “financially reckless but also dangerous”.
Other Green Party plans include Net Zero by 2040, dismantling nuclear weapons, and more tax rises for earners above £50,000.
While leaked text messages from the Gorton and Denton Green campaign showed party activists planning to leaflet Muslims “outside mosques” during Ramadan.
And a Green campaign video pictures Sir Keir Starmer clutching the hand of India’s Hindu Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a bitter foe of Muslim Pakistan.
The campaign tactics led to accusations that the Greens were sowing division and sectarianism.
A senior cabinet minister said before the vote: “The Greens are whipping up hatred and deliberately raising the salience of Gaza.
“They’re hammering us. They’re a totally different party to the one we thought they were.”
Before voting day I met Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia in ethnically-diverse Longisight.
The Network Rail worker told me: “Stoking anger outside the mosques here isn’t going to solve the problems in Gaza.
“I‘m very disappointed to see how the Greens are campaigning in this area.”
Yet, plumber Hannah Spencer took the seat with 14,980 votes, with Matt Goodwin on 10,578 for Reform and Labout third with 9,364.
When asked about accusations of secratianism during her campaign, Spencer said after her victory that they were “trying to unite people on shared common ground”.
Her ground-breaking triumph has rathcheted up the pressure on Sir Keir Starmer’s faltering and beleaguered premiership.
Labour MP Brian Leishman said: “Time he did the right thing for the country & the Labour Party, and go.”
Lurching from one calamity to another, Starmer increasingly resembles the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who insists “Tis but a scratch” after King Arthur hacks off his limbs in a sword fight.
After Mandelsongate, 15 U-turns in 19 months and losing elections in Runcorn, Caerphilly and now Gorton, Starmer still refuses to recognise when he’s been beaten.
Monty Python’s Arthur tells the Black Knight: “Look, you stupid b*d, you’ve got no arms left!”
Many Labour MPs – keen to retain their seats – will be thinking the same thing of Starmer’s Prime Ministership.
And they may come with political swords of their own after the May local elections which are likely to be another Starmer bloodbath.
KEIR ON ROPES Starmer’s career is on the line AGAIN… his own MPs want rid of him after by-election humiliation
By Noa Hoffman
BRITAIN woke up to a political earthquake today as the Greens hoovered up thousands of Labour votes to snatch victory at the Gorton and Denton by-election.
In what had long been a traditional red stronghold, Sir Keir Starmer’s party was also beaten by Reform.
The result tells us plenty about where the country’s politics is heading — and it foreshadows a fight that will be replayed across swathes of constituencies at the next general election.
First, the PM’s career is back on the line.
Despite riding out a major wobble amid the Mandelson scandal, Labour backbenchers will now feel more emboldened than ever to call time on Starmer’s leadership.
They will argue the PM faces a far bigger threat from the left than the right — and that moves to curb immigration and crack down on benefits have ended up punishing the party.
Sir Keir’s critics will also point to the loss of thousands of Muslim votes as a warning sign: that Labour isn’t hardline enough on sectarian issues and failed to take a strong stand on Gaza.
The result will also lift the prospects of left-wing leadership rivals such as Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham, who will argue their more socialist approach would’ve stopped the party haemorrhaging support in inner-city areas.
Gorton and Denton also signals a serious cracking of Britain’s two-party politics.
The Tories, for instance, were nowhere to be seen during the campaign and barely scraped 600 votes — a cataclysmic result for the party.
Labour’s third-place finish, meanwhile, showed how readily voters will ditch the two main parties for alternatives, underlining deep frustration with the state of the country — and the political status quo.
While Reform seized a sizeable chunk of the vote, the result also underlined the power of anti-Nigel Farage tactical voting.
There is a huge coalition of voters ready to swing to whichever party they think is best placed to beat Reform.
And the by-election also shone a light on a sharp rise in sectarian voting.
Throughout the campaign, the Green Party leafleted near mosques and distributed flyers in Urdu.
They told Muslim voters to “Labour must be punished for Gaza”.
Expect a lot more of this campaigning style in seats with high Muslim populations from here on.
The by-election also showed that left-wing populism is emerging as a real force in British politics, as it has been on the right.
The Green Party hardly centred environmentalism during their campaign, instead breaking with tradition to focus on issues of immigration and the cost of living.
Today the PM vowed to “keep on fighting” in the face of pressure to lurch further left or quit.
It is unlikely any leadership challenge will come about in the immediate aftermath of the vote.
Sir Keir’s leadership rivals from all wings of the party will want time to calibrate.
And they will want to gain further momentum from the predicted major losses set to tarnish Labour in May local elections.
It’s likely that no one will pounce until at least that point.