Concerns have been raised about people forcing family members to vote in a certain way in the crunch Gorton and Denton by-election.
After polls closed on Thursday night, an election observer group warned it had witnessed family voting – an illegal practice where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting – in 68% of polling stations observed.
Democracy Volunteers’ intervention has caused consternation among the top three parties and threatens to overshadow the counting of votes.
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said the report was “extremely worrying and concerning,” Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said it raised “questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas,” and Green Party leader Zack Polanski suggested he would back a probe into the issue.
Democracy Volunteers said in a statement: “Today we have seen concerningly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton.
“Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK.
“We rarely issue a report on the night of an election, but the data we have collected today on family voting, when compared to other recent by-elections, is extremely high.
“In the other recent Westminster parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby we saw family voting in 12% of polling stations, affecting 1% of voters.
“In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting in 68% of polling stations, affecting 12% of those voters observed.”
The organisation said it attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending 30 to 45 minutes in each, and witnessed family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed.
The group said they observed a sample of 545 individuals casting their vote and saw 32 cases of family voting in total, including nine cases in one polling station.
Manchester City Council hit back that no issues had been reported and said it was “extremely disappointing” that Democracy Volunteers waited until after the close of polls to make the claims.
A spokesperson for the acting returning officer at the by-election said: “Polling station staff are trained to look out for any evidence of undue influence on voters.
“No such issues have been reported today.
“If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about alleged issues they could and should have raised them with us during polling hours so that immediate action could be taken.”
John Ault, director of Democracy Volunteers, said the group had raised the matter at polling stations.
He told the Press Association: “It is a normal international standard not to issue a comment until after a voting has finished, another accepted aspect of election observation is that you are encouraged to ask questions of staff…
“We posed questions about family voting in several polling stations and how staff dealt with it when it arose.”
Labour chair Ms Turley told BBC Newsnight of the family voting concerns: “That’s not what we want to see in our democracy.
“So obviously we need to see the evidence and the report, and then make due decision about what authorities should look into this.”
Mr Polanski told the programme: “If the recommendation is that there should be an inquiry or further steps then yes I’d support that.”
Reform UK’s candidate Matt Goodwin said he was “deeply concerned about the extent to which the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election is a free, fair, and democratic election”.
Statement from Matt Goodwin, Reform UK candidate:
— Matt Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) February 26, 2026
“Given the reports we are reading in UK media about family voting and sectarianism, I am deeply concerned about the extent to which the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election is a free, fair, and democratic election.”
The contest in the Greater Manchester constituency is seen as a major test for Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Labour won Gorton and Denton in 2024 with more than half the vote but polling suggested the party’s candidate Angeliki Stogia faced a tight three-way battle with Reform UK’s Mr Goodwin and the Greens’ Hannah Spencer.
The result, expected on Friday morning, is likely to have implications for May’s local and devolved elections and shape the political landscape ahead of the next general election.
Victory would buy the Prime Minister some breathing space after a period in which his leadership has been questioned and Labour’s popularity has plummeted.
Defeat would be likely to reignite speculation over efforts to replace him.
Ms Turley said she was “really optimistic” about Labour’s chances, but cautioned: “Of course incumbent government always find it difficult to fight by-elections.”
More than a thousand Labour activists were out across the constituency and spoke to more voters than on any previous by-election polling day, party sources told the Press Association.
Both Labour and the Greens sough to pitch themselves as the only option for anti-Reform voters, creating uncertainty for those keen to vote tactically to keep Mr Farage’s party at bay.
The Greens expressed confidence that their vote had held up well, with Mr Polanski telling Newsnight: “When I became leader six months ago, if you’d told me we could seriously come second place or even first place in a by-election and challenge this Labour Government in what used to be called a safe Labour seat, I’d say that’s pretty remarkable.”
Reform UK chair David Bull said: “It’s a three way marginal, we’re seeing the Greens and Labour fighting each other [and] there is a possible we can go straight through the middle.”
The contest was triggered by former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne standing down for health reasons.
