Labour, Green party and Reform make final pitch to voters in Gorton and Denton – as it happened
Grassroots Left, the Your Party faction supporting Zara Sultana, has issued a statement following the leadership team elections won by the rival The Many slate, which backs Jeremy Corbyn.It says:double quotation markOur party is strongest when members have real power: over policy, finances, selections, and decision-making – through transparent, accountable structures.All Grassroots Left members will push for this on the CEC.We will push to make sure the branches are recognised immediately, fully supported and that members are put at the heart of the party.Your Party must now work together to become a party of and for the whole left – with no more witch-hunts or stitch-ups.
All those who have been expelled should be reinstated,We now need a culture of mutual respect, open debate, and a shared focus on the real issues facing us: inequality, insecure work, crumbling public services, fascism, and a political establishment that keeps letting working people down,Grassroots Left will work with all those elected who are committed to rebuilding trust by putting the members first and fighting with the branches for accountable, transparent and democratic structures and strong socialist policies in Your Party,Jeremy Corbyn is to become the de facto leader of Your Party, after an election in which his rival Zarah Sultana was also voted on to the party’s leadership committee,People in Gorton and Denton on the outskirts of Manchester have been voting in one of the closely fought – and potentially consequential – byelections in recent years.
And it’s been raining.For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.These are from Sienna Rodgers from the House Magazine on the Your Party elections.double quotation markJeremy Corbyn’s ‘The Many’ slate won 14 seatsZarah Sultana’s Grassroots Left won 7 seatsIndependents won 3 seats25,347 Your Party members voted (over 1,000 more than in the 2025 Green party Leadership elections won by Zack Polanski)double quotation markYP source points out that 20 of the 24 seats on the CEC have been won by women, saying: “So much for the sexist boys’ club!”double quotation markUnderstand that now the leadership has been elected Corbyn will officially become a Your Party MPHe is currently listed as an Independent whereas Sultana became a YP MP months agoHere is Alexandra Topping’s updated story on the results.And here is an extract.
double quotation markSources close to [Zarah] Sultana said she had no intention of quitting the party despite Corbyn’s victory,“She will stay and fight,” they said,“She’ll be fighting with the other seven women that have been elected from Grassroots Left to make sure that the party is as democratic as it can be and to give as much power to the members as ‘The Many’ will allow,”The 24-person CEC – on which 20 women will sit – will decide who takes the roles of chair, deputy chair, secretary, treasurer, political officer and spokesperson,After months of public spats, rows over money, accusations of sexism and rifts over policy and direction, Your Party is hoping to turn a page on the controversies that have beset it since its launch in July last year.
Following the result former Your Party MP Adnan Hussain said he was “delighted” at Corbyn’s victory, though he stopped short of saying he would rejoin the party.“‘The results clearly demonstrate members’ trust in his leadership and vision for the party, the same vision which inspired me to join the project,” he said.“I wish him the best of luck in putting into action his vision for a mass movement for the many.”And Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has tweeted this, promoting his candidate in Gorton and Denton, Hannah Spencer.Two options for voters in Gorton & Denton.
Greens or Reform? pic,twitter,com/wVN5yz8H43Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has been tweeting too about his party’s get out the vote operation in Gorton and Denton,It’s all systems go in Reform HQ today! 🚀 pic,twitter.
com/TL8OXENoeDThe rain won’t stop Reform fighting for every vote! ☔️ pic,twitter,com/ZTpx70cqgIA reader asks:double quotation markIs there a convention by which constituencies containing more than one place are named?Alphabetically it would be Denton and Gorton being fought today,On the actual question, I can’t help, I’m afraid – although I guess it comes down to what sounds most natural to the people who live there,The Gorton bit of the constituency has more people living in it than the Denton bit.
But I do know something about the prevelance of constituency names with the word “and'” in them – because Philip Cowley has an essay on this subject in his wonderful collection of political columns, The Smallest Room in the House.He has looked at the data and, while in 1950 just 53 constituencies had “and” in the name, by 2019 it was 161, and now it is 250.And this highlights two features of the way constituency boundaries have been redrawn in the past 80 years.First, it is because “boundary redistributions in the UK have increasingly come to prioritise creating seats consisting of (roughly) equal electorates over the desire for seats that represent actual communities.”And, second, it is because there is now more public particiation in the boundary redistribution process.
At the last redistribution, the Boundary Commission originally proposed 209 seats with “and” in the title,By the time the consultation process was over, it was up to 250,Here are some tweets from cabinet ministers campaigning in Gorton and Denton today,From David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretaryProud to be out knocking doors today for Labour’s brilliant candidate, Angeliki Stogia,Only Labour can stop Reform.
If you’re in Gorton and Denton, vote for unity, hope and local renewal over division and hate 🌹 pic,twitter,com/XSlRLm4y5ZFrom Bridget Phillipson, the education secretaryOut in Gorton and Denton today campaigning for our great candidate Angeliki Stogia,It’s a straight choice — Labour or Reform, hope or fear,Polls close 10 pm 🌹 pic.
twitter.com/7ceTjVmxMdFrom Wes Streeting, the health secetaryIt’s pouring with rain in Gorton and Denton, but the @UKLabour volunteers are pouring in, too! 🌹 pic.twitter.com/r01FD81INqFrom Anna Turley, the Labour chairReally positive response on the doors in Gorton and Denton so far today! People are really coming out for Angeliki and for unity despite the soggy weather.🌹@uklabour pic.
twitter.com/SRxcBfWP8uThese are from Kate Ferguson, politcal editor of the Sun on Sunday.double quotation markZack Polanski overheard speaking loudly on his phone on a train saying he is not confident The Greens will win in today’s byelection, source tells me.double quotation markTo clarify: my mistake this was not on the phone.My source says Zack was chatting with aides on the train.
Also for balance: Green Party denying this & say they will win,Party source: “Zack is very confident we will win,“We are hearing v good reports from the doorstep,”The latest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out,It features John Harris and Kiran Stacey talking about the Send reforms, and about possible changes to student loans.
Ministers have welcomed figures showing a big increase in the proportion of people in England saying it is easy to access a GP.According to figures in the latest health insight survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics, in January 77% of people described contact with their GP as easy.The previous month the figure was 75%.And in July 2024 the figure was 61%.Stephen Kinnock, a health minister, said:double quotation markWe’re fixing the front door of the NHS – and the public is noticing …This progress is the result of the extra investment and modernisation this government has introduced, cutting red tape so GPs spend more time caring for patients, investing £100m in expanding GP practices, and recruiting 2,000 more GPs.
Labour has been campaigning in Gorton and Denton again today with its Brexit “false promises” campaign bus,This is aimed at Reform UK and Nigel Farage,As explained yesterday, linking Farage with the £350m slogan is not particularly fair, but it is a significant departure for Labour, which until very recently has been wary of reopening the Brexit debate,Jersey’s parliament has given final approval to a bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults who live on the island, Harriet Sherwood reports,Zara Sultana has issued her own statement about the Your Party elections.
She says it is now “time to work together”, but she also calls for “greater transparency and accountability” in the party.Grassroots Left, the Your Party faction supporting Zara Sultana, has issued a statement following the leadership team elections won by the rival The Many slate, which backs Jeremy Corbyn.It says:double quotation markOur party is strongest when members have real power: over policy, finances, selections, and decision-making – through transparent, accountable structures.All Grassroots Left members will push for this on the CEC.We will push to make sure the branches are recognised immediately, fully supported and that members are put at the heart of the party.
Your Party must now work together to become a party of and for the whole left – with no more witch-hunts or stitch-ups,All those who have been expelled should be reinstated,We now need a culture of mutual respect, open debate, and a shared focus on the real issues facing us: inequality, insecure work, crumbling public services, fascism, and a political establishment that keeps letting working people down,Grassroots Left will work with all those elected who are committed to rebuilding trust by putting the members first and fighting with the branches for accountable, transparent and democratic structures and strong socialist policies in Your Party,
The Your Party committee election was chaos. Why break the habit of a lifetime? | John Crace
Start as you mean to go on. Your Party has had a fair few ups and downs in its short lifespan. Some might call it chaos. Its two most prominent members, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, seem barely able to stand being in the same room as each other. Allegations of financial misconduct over membership fees and donations
Labour, Green party and Reform make final pitch to voters in Gorton and Denton – as it happened
Grassroots Left, the Your Party faction supporting Zara Sultana, has issued a statement following the leadership team elections won by the rival The Many slate, which backs Jeremy Corbyn. It says:double quotation markOur party is strongest when members have real power: over policy, finances, selections, and decision-making – through transparent, accountable structures. All Grassroots Left members will push for this on the CEC. We will push to make sure the branches are recognised immediately, fully supported and that members are put at the heart of the party.Your Party must now work together to become a party of and for the whole left – with no more witch-hunts or stitch-ups
Your Party under Corbyn to work with Greens on ‘coordinated left-flank offensive’
A Jeremy Corbyn-led Your Party will work with the Green party and others to push for a “coordinated left-flank offensive” against Reform and Labour, the Guardian understands.After winning a comprehensive victory to become the de facto leader of the leftwing startup party on Thursday, Corbyn will seek to rebuild bridges with pro-Gaza communities “alienated” by his rival Zarah Sultana, sources close to Corbyn said.Corbyn will become Your Party’s parliamentary leader, after an election in which Sultana was also voted on to the party’s leadership committee under its collective leadership model. Corbyn-backed candidates took 14 of the 24 available places on the party’s central executive committee (CEC). Sultana-backed candidates took seven of the seats and three went to independents
British-Danish couple say new UK passport rules may separate them from children
A British man and a Danish woman fear they will be separated from their young children in Copenhagen airport because of new border control rules on British dual nationals.James Scrivens and his wife, Sara, who live in Wales, were visiting relatives in Norway and Denmark during the school holidays, and learned about the new Home Office rules only while they were abroad.Under the rules, dual nationals risk being denied boarding if they do not present a British passport, current or expired, or a “certificate of entitlement”, costing £589, attached to the passport of their second nationality, to prove their right to enter the UK.On Thursday the migration minister Mike Tapp dismissed as “absurd” claims that the government had failed to properly communicate the new rules.Scrivens is hoping the airline will show clemency when they turn up in Copenhagen on Friday, but says if they don’t, their children may have to stay with their grandparents while at least one parent returns home to apply for their first British passports
Sarwar gambles on break with Starmer as Labour support slumps
“People look at Holyrood and think: ‘Lets give them all a bloody nose’,” says Alex, a betting shop manager. Speaking in a focus group of people who voted Labour at the 2024 general election, Alex captured the downbeat mood of a cohort bitterly disappointed with the Labour government’s early performance, frustrated by the record of the Scottish National party and wearied by what they described as “scandal after scandal” polluting public life.Organised by the public opinion researchers More in Common, the discussion took place last week in Glasgow’s southside, where the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, grew up and still lives with his family.With two months to go until the Scottish parliament elections, these are the voters Sarwar believes he can re-energise. Their dissatisfaction with Westminster lay behind his calculated decision a fortnight ago to call for Keir Starmer to stand aside, as polls consistently show Scottish Labour, a once buoyant party, trailing in third place behind John Swinney’s SNP and Reform UK
Home Office denies ‘absurd’ criticism over rule change that may leave dual nationals stranded
The Home Office has dismissed as “absurd” claims that it failed to properly communicate new border rules that left some British dual nationals at risk of being prevented from boarding flights to the UK.During a heated session in parliament on Wednesday, the Home Office minister Mike Tapp suggested that media coverage in the Guardian and BBC reflected the department’s efforts to publicise the changes.The Labour backbencher Kerry McCarthy described how two of her constituents feared being stranded on their honeymoon because of the new requirements, which came into force on Wednesday.Under the changes, British dual nationals must present a valid or expired British passport, or a £589 certificate of entitlement, to prove their right of abode before boarding a plane, ferry or train to the UK.“They don’t know if they can actually get back into the UK from [their] honeymoon,” McCarthy said
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