Greens select former mayoral candidate to run in Gorton and Denton byelection

The Green party has selected the former mayoral candidate Hannah Spencer to run in the Gorton and Denton byelection.Spencer, a Trafford councillor and plumber by trade, used to live in the constituency and was the Green candidate for mayor of Manchester in the 2024 election, where she finished fifth behind Labour’s Andy Burnham, who retained the post, and Conservative, independent and Reform candidates.Her nomination was officially announced on Friday in Longsight. The decision had been made democratically by local party members in online hustings the night before. Spencer is understood to have gained a large majority of the vote, beating competition that included Fesl Reza-Khan, who previously stood for the Oldham East and Saddleworth seat in the 2024 general election, finishing sixth, and Sarah Wakefield, a local campaigner and the former general secretary to the Manchester University student union

Starmer signals support for Trump’s aggressive approach towards Iran

Keir Starmer has signalled support for Donald Trump’s aggressive approach towards Iran, saying it is vital the Iranian leadership is not able to develop nuclear weapons.While the prime minister did not comment directly on the possibility of US military strikes on Iran, he said allies needed to face up to the nuclear issue and “deal with” the deadly repression of anti-government protests.The US president has warned Iran it must end its nuclear programme and stop killing protesters if a large US armada of warships deployed in the Middle East is not to be used against them.Starmer’s words during a visit to China on Friday were deliberately guarded, and No 10 officials said he would not comment on hypothetical future US strikes, but they are likely to be seen by some as a tacit endorsement of Trump’s bellicose attitude to Tehran.“The goal or the aim here is that Iran shouldn’t be able to develop nuclear weapons and that is hugely important and, of course, we need to deal with the fact they are repressing protesters, killing protesters,” Starmer told the BBC during a series of broadcast interviews in Shanghai

‘It’s about ego’: Matt Goodwin’s journey from far-right expert to firebrand Reform candidate

It was the autumn of 2011 and Dr Matt Goodwin was documenting the potential reach of the racist far-right in Tameside, a borough in east Manchester that is part of the parliamentary constituency of Gorton and Denton.The borough council had spotted the work the young academic had been doing on the rise of the British National party – the subject of his pioneering PhD – and asked him to dig deeper into the local dangers of what Goodwin was describing as a “new British fascism” emerging in disaffected parts of northern England.Regarded by colleagues as ambitious to a fault, he was not one to turn down such interesting work. Having built strong contacts within the Conservative party, he had already been assisting the hereditary peer James Bethell, and Tim Montgomerie, previously chief of staff to Iain Duncan Smith as Tory leader and the founder of the influential ConservativeHome website, on a campaign with the strapline “there is nothing British about the BNP”.Goodwin’s co-authored report to Tameside council identified the areas “most ‘at risk’ of far-right extremism and the factors that have driven this support”

Who are the UK MPs and peers who had sanctions imposed on them by China?

China has lifted sanctions imposed on six serving British MPs and peers after Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing.Nine UK citizens were banned from China in 2021, including five Conservative MPs and two members of the House of Lords.MP for Tonbridge; former security ministerTugendhat was first elected in 2015. The son of a high court judge, Tugendhat served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and later became a military assistant to the chief of the defence staff.He chaired the foreign affairs select committee between 2017 and 2022

Reform UK enlists Boris Johnson ally to write party nature policies

Ben Goldsmith, the veteran Conservative environmentalist and ally of Boris Johnson, has been approached to write Reform UK’s policies on nature, as Nigel Farage’s party attempts to make inroads with voters put off by his stance on the climate crisis.Goldsmith will work with the Reform leader and his policy adviser James Orr on policies such as fishing and preservation of the green belt, as party figures admit they are struggling to win over Conservative voters who care about the environment.It is understood the financier and wildlife campaigner will not be joining the party, but is happy to advise them on nature policy. Goldsmith has been a leading figure in the rewilding movement, has supported efforts to return animals including the beaver to the UK, and has worked to preserve rare wildlife around the world.Reform has made huge inroads among Tory voters in the past 18 months, propelling the party to the top of the polls and on course for a majority at the next election

Keir Starmer opens door to UK visit by Xi Jinping after bilateral talks

Keir Starmer has taken a big step towards rapprochement with China, opening the door to a UK visit from Xi Jinping in a move that drew immediate anger from British critics of Beijing.During the first visit by a UK prime minister to China in eight years – a period which Starmer has described as an “ice age” – he said talks with the Chinese president had left the bilateral relationship in a stronger position.While Starmer and his team were flaunting the results of the trip – including a visa waiver, a cut in whisky tariffs and economic cooperation agreements – there was growing concern in the UK over the prospect of a return visit.While travelling to Beijing, Starmer had said the UK government would remain “clear-eyed and realistic” about national security threats from China, despite Beijing’s espionage activities in the UK and imposition of sanctions on British MPs.But asked whether Starmer would like Xi to visit the UK, his official spokesperson said: “The prime minister has been clear that a reset relationship with China, that it’s no longer in an ice age, is beneficial to British people and British business