A post circulated widely on social media site X claimed to show that Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election had photoshopped a picture to make it look like a household was supporting Reform.
Two screenshots were posted side-by-side. One showed a post by Reform’s Matthew Goodwin, where he is standing in front of a house with several Reform placards.
The second is from an anonymised account which claimed: “This is my house, this clown Goodwin has photoshopped his posters in my windows.” That post included what appears to be the same photograph of the house, but without Mr Goodwin in the shot, and with the Reform placards not visible.
Evaluation
The image without Mr Goodwin and without the placards contains several apparent artefacts that would indicate it has been tampered with.
The Press Association found the house in question on Google Street View which shows there was a Reform UK sticker in its window in June 2025.
The facts
PA attempted to find the original account that had posted the claim against Mr Goodwin, however, a keyword search did not produce the desired results.
A closer look at the photograph posted – which does not include Mr Goodwin – show anomalies which are likely relics of an editing process.
Immediately behind where Mr Goodwin was standing in the other photograph there is a small garden wall. In the apparently edited version the brickwork in that wall is disjointed, with one brick appearing to have been cut in half.
Meanwhile, the door – which Mr Goodwin is partially obstructing in the other photograph – appears misshapen.
Although the large placards have been removed in the likely edited photograph, there still appears to be a small Reform UK sticker in one of the bay windows.
PA found the address in question fairly close to Reddish North train station. PA will not publish the exact address to respect the privacy of the residents.
In the Google Street View images, which are from June 2025, the Reform UK sticker can be seen in the bay windows. The brickwork in the wall looks normal and the door looks different from the one in the seemingly edited photograph, notably with a gold letter plate and door handle on the opposite side.
Mr Goodwin is up against Hannah Spencer, a councillor and plumber, for the Greens and Manchester city councillor Angeliki Stogia for Labour.
The Conservative Party candidate is retired police detective Charlotte Cadden and local campaigner Jackie Pearcey is standing for the Liberal Democrats.
Links
Post on X (archived, and archived screenshots, one and two)
