Starmer , Polanski and Farage in final pitch to voters as polls open in Gorton and Denton byelection – united kingdom politics live

theguardian.com · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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From 2h agoStarmer and Polanski both claim their parties best placed to beat Reform UK as polls open in Gorton and DentonGood morning. In Gorton and Denton, on the outskirts of Manchester, people have started voting in one of the most eagerly awaited, and fiercely contested, byelections of recent years. All the polling suggests the result will be very close. The political scientists argue that, if a party wins a contest like this by just a few hundred votes (or perhaps ever fewer – Reform UK won the Runcorn and Helsby byelection last year by just six votes), it is irrational to draw broad conclusions about the state of UK politics over a result that could easily have gone the other way had it not been for a few random incidents (like activists not closing the door in a cafe). But politics isn’t rational; a win will firm up a narrative that will shape the way the main parties do politics in the months ahead. (And, whoever wins, the result will confirm that we now have multi-party politics trying to operate in an electoral system constructed for two-party politics, which is leading to questions about the fairness of the outcomes it produces.)Here is Josh Halliday’s preview.The polling stations opened at 7am. Unusually, the leaders of the three parties that might win have all issued personal messages to the voters. Keir Starmer, the PM and Labour leader, and Zack Polanski, the Green leader, are both claiming they are best placed to beat Reform UK.Starmer said: double quotation markThe choice at today’s by-election could not be more stark. Unity or division. Driving down the cost of living with Labour or driving a wedge between communities under Reform. Moving forwards together, or opening up anger and division that holds our country back. Reform’s Matthew Goodwin thinks people who aren’t white can’t be English and wants women who choose not to have children to pay more tax. Vote Labour in Gorton and Denton today to send him and his toxic politics packing. Only Labour’s Angeliki Stogia can unite communities in Manchester and Tameside and stop Reform. A vote for the Greens or any other party just risks letting Goodwin in through the back door. And Polanksi says:Labour know they're in third place. Yet in the last 48 hours have gone as far as obsessively attacking the Green Party and even creating a fake tactical voting website to spread misinformation.If you can't vote today - then join us instead!https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 26, 2026And, in his statement, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: double quotation markOur message on election day is clear. The prime minister is panicking and knows he has broken his promises to the British people. Vote Reform to ditch Starmer. Here is the agenda for the day.9.30am: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, takes questions in the Commons.9.30am: The Home Office publishes its latest asylum and resettlement figures.9.30am: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes homelessness figures.Morning: Keir Starmer is on an education-related visit in the north of England.11am: Your Party announces the results of the elections to its leadership team, its central executive committee. As Alexandra Topping reports, there has been a bitter contest between the Jeremy Corbyn faction and the Zara Sultana faction.11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.Noon: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs.If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.Key events43s agoNumber of asylum seekers in UK hotels falls to 18-month low20m agoMinister confirms government remains committed to Chagos Islands deal, despite pause in parliamentary proceedings50m agoPolanski accuses Labour of 'openly lying to voters' in byelection with leaflet quoting fake tactical voting group2h agoLord speaker to meet Met after he was misidentified as source of Mandelson info2h agoHome Office denies ‘absurd’ criticism over rule change that could leave dual nationals stranded2h agoStarmer and Polanski both claim their parties best placed to beat Reform UK as polls open in Gorton and DentonShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureNumber of asylum seekers in UK hotels falls to 18-month lowThe number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in hotels has fallen to the lowest level for 18 months, Home Office figures show. Rajeev Syal has the story.Minister confirms government remains committed to Chagos Islands deal, despite pause in parliamentary proceedingsA minister has confirmed that the government is pressing ahead with the deal to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.In an interview with Times Radio this morning, asked if the deal was going ahead “100%”, Alison McGovern, the communities minister, replied: double quotation markYes. My colleague the foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has been talking to Marco Rubio, her opposite number in the US, about it. Foreign policy is never easy. We will make progress on the Chagos deal. There has been some confusion because yesterday, in the Commons, the Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said the deal was being paused. The government later said this was not true, and that the minister misspoke.In fact, the situation is quite straightforward – and McGovern and Falconer are both right.The government is still committed to the treaty transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, because it believes this is the best way to guarantee the long-term viability of the Diego Garcia military base, and it still intends to go ahead with it. Many players in the US defence and foreign policy establishment agree.But the government has paused the parliamentary process that will lead to the Diego Garcia military base and British Indian Ocean Territory bill (the legislation implementing the treaty) becoming law. The bill has passed most of its Commons and Lords stages, but at least one more vote in the Lords is needed.Originally that was scheduled for late January. But the debate was pulled after President Trump attacked the deal (which he had previously supported) in a post on social media, and ministers have not given a date yet for when it will go ahead.They seem to be waiting for Trump to get over his latest grudge against the deal, which reportedly was motivate by Keir Starmer saying he would not let Trump deploy bombers from Diego Garcia to attack Iran.Under election law we are not allowed to publish information about how people have voted until polling has closed. So, if you do live in Gorton and Denton, and you have voted, please don’t tell us about it in the comments section BTL (or, at least, not today). Any comments of that kind will, I’m afraid, have to be removed.And, while I am on the subject of what’s not allowed, please don’t comment on legal proceedings where people have been arrested.A reader asks: double quotation markCan we have some dogs outside polling stations today, please? Here goes.Early voters at Thorpe House polling station in Denton in the Gorton and Denton byelection. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The GuardianA dog walker passing a polling station in Gorton and Denton. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPAA jogger passing graffiti on a wall in Manchester today. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPAPolanski accuses Labour of 'openly lying to voters' in byelection with leaflet quoting fake tactical voting groupThe Green party has criticised Labour for issuing a leaflet in Gorton and Denton implying that an independent tactical voting organisation is advising anti-Reform UK voters to back Labour, not Green, in the byelection today.As HuffPost UK reports, the leaflet references “Tactical Choice” and implies it is an independent group urging people to vote Labour. In fact, no such independent tactical voting organisation exists.Labour leaflet in Gorton and Denton Photograph: Huffpost UK/HuffPost UKLast night, in an open letter to Lucy Powell, the Labour deputy leader, Zack Polanski, the Green leader, said Labour was “openly lying to voters” and that this was “deeply troubling”.Polanski letter to Powell Photograph: Green partyPolanksi says the real tactical vote organisations – StopReformUK.Vote and StopTheTories.Vote, which are both part of the Forward Democracy initiative, and tactical.vote – are all urging anti-Reform voters to back the Greens, not Labour.A Labour spokesperson told HuffPost: double quotation markThe Greens have been pumping out fake news and deploying dirty tactics for weeks. We’ll take no lectures from them. The spokesperson was referring to leaflets like this one from the start of the campaign.A woman arriving to vote at the Thorpe House polling station in Denton in the Gorton and Denton byelection today. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The GuardianLord speaker to meet Met after he was misidentified as source of Mandelson infoThe speaker of the House of Lords will meet with the Metropolitan police today after he was incorrectly identified as the source of information which led to Peter Mandelson’s arrest, the Press Association reports. PA says: double quotation markL