Afternoon summary
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.
Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘The Many’ slate won 14 seats
Zarah Sultana’s Grassroots Left won 7 seats
Independents won 3 seats
25,347 Your Party members voted (over 1,000 more than in the 2025 Green party Leadership elections won by Zack Polanski)
YP 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!”
Understand that now the leadership has been elected Corbyn will officially become a Your Party MP
He is currently listed as an Independent whereas Sultana became a YP MP months ago
Here is Alexandra Topping’s updated story on the results.
And here is an extract.
Sources 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.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 26, 2026
Greens or Reform? pic.twitter.com/wVN5yz8H43
Nigel 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/TL8OXENoeD
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) February 26, 2026
The rain won’t stop Reform fighting for every vote! ☔️ pic.twitter.com/ZTpx70cqgI
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) February 26, 2026
A reader asks:
Is 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 secretary
Proud to be out knocking doors today for Labour’s brilliant candidate, Angeliki Stogia.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 26, 2026
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/XSlRLm4y5Z
From Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary
Out in Gorton and Denton today campaigning for our great candidate Angeliki Stogia.
— Bridget Phillipson (@bphillipsonMP) February 26, 2026
It’s a straight choice — Labour or Reform, hope or fear.
Polls close 10 pm 🌹 pic.twitter.com/7ceTjVmxMd
From Wes Streeting, the health secetary
It’s pouring with rain in Gorton and Denton, but the @UKLabour volunteers are pouring in, too! 🌹 pic.twitter.com/r01FD81INq
— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) February 26, 2026
From Anna Turley, the Labour chair
Really 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/SRxcBfWP8u
— Anna Turley MP (@annaturley) February 26, 2026
These are from Kate Ferguson, politcal editor of the Sun on Sunday.
Zack 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.
To 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 welcome figures showing 16-point rise since election in proportion saying it's easy to access GP in England
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:
We’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 approves bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults
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.
Sultana urges Your Party members to 'work together', as she calls for 'greater transparency and accountability' in party
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.
Sultana-backing Grassroots Left group calls for 'no more witch-hunts' in Your Party after Corbyn's slate wins elections
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:
Our 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.
Updated
John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue and a crossbench peer, has said today’s rough sleeping figures (see 12.01pm) show the government is failing to grasp the problem. In a statement he said:
It’s deeply concerning that the government cannot get a grasp on rough sleeping.
It’s clearly not enough to throw resources at pulling people out of homelessness, given the rate that people are falling victim to it.
To turn off the tap, it’s high time Westminster turned its attention to unpicking the causes of this great wave of homelessness that massed under successive governments. Namely kickstarting efforts to prevent and cure millions of the poverty that leaves them precariously close to losing their home.
We also need to end our overreliance on expensive and often unsuitable temporary accommodation, and invest in long-term prevention strategies, like bringing the 300,000 empty homes in England back into use as social and affordable housing.
Government and the third sector should focus on finding people a sustainable exit route from rough sleeping that keeps them off the streets – the very principle the Big Issue was founded on 35 years ago.
Home Office data shows 605 small boat migrants arrived in the UK yesterday – the most arrivals on a single day so far this year, the Press Association reports. PA says:
People in lifejackets and coats were pictured getting off Border Force and RNLI boats in Ramsgate, Kent, on what was the hottest day of the year so far.
Those who arrived made the crossing in 10 different boats.
French authorities rescued 119 people from three different dinghies during the night.
It brings the total number of arrivals this year to 2,209, 7% higher than this time last year.
The Conservative party is demanding full parliamentary scrutiny of the treaty with the EU over Gibraltar. (See 1.46pm.) Wendy Morton, a shadow Foreign Office minister, said:
This is a treaty of over 1,000 pages with profound constitutional changes that fundamentally reshapes how Gibraltar’s border, airport and legal framework will operate, yet parliament has not seen a single page of it.
Gibraltar is British. Its people have repeatedly and overwhelmingly chosen to remain under British sovereignty. Any treaty that hands Spain new powers over entry, residency, infrastructure or enforcement must be examined line by line by parliament before it takes effect.
Parliament cannot be expected to sign a blank cheque to the EU. We need the full treaty in front of us before a single provision is allowed to take effect.
Unfortunately for Morton, parliament only has very limited powers over treaties – under a law passed when Conservative party was last in government.
Calls to move England’s home insulation scheme into council workers’ hands
Councils should train up their own workers to install insulation in England’s draughty houses, and offer home upgrades street by street, beginning in the most deprived areas, according to proposals for cutting energy bills, a thinktank has said.
In a report, Common Wealth says the government’s warm homes plan is at risk of “missing those most in need”. It proposes a council-led approach instead. It says:
A neighbourhood-based retrofit strategy – which combines lowering energy bills with addressing homes in need of repair, protecting tenants and bringing empty homes back into use – can shift the narrative that climate policy has failed to improve daily life.
This report sets out a new model for neighbourhood transformation which learns from the place-based programmes that upgraded the nation’s housing stock over the 20th century. It proposes the establishment of around thirty home improvement corporations operating at county or combined authority scale. These public bodies would coordinate area-based retrofit, employ permanent direct labour organisations to build the workforce, and integrate repairs and wider improvements so homes in poor condition can benefit. Home improvement corporations would also hold powers to prevent tenant displacement and bring empty homes into use.
Fiona Harvey has more details here.
Gibraltar gets 'practical and lasting solution' after UK and EU finally agree rules for its post-Brexit status
Gibraltar will remain British, but people will be able to travel freely across the land border with Spain, according to a post-Brexit agreement on the territory, the Press Association reports. Gibraltar was not included in the post-Brexit trade deal negotiated between the UK and the EU more than five years ago. But the two sides have now finally agreed what they call a “practical and lasting solution” that will settle the status of the British territory perched at the edge of Spain.
PA says:
The UK, alongside the government of Gibraltar, has published a draft treaty with the EU that outlines the arrangements for a “fluid border” for people and goods.
The deal will mean no routine passport checks at the Spain-Gibraltar border for the 15,000 people who cross it every day.
However, checks will apply to those arriving by air, so those flying into Gibraltar from the UK will face dual border controls: one check from Gibraltarian officials and another by the Spanish on behalf of the EU.
There will also be a tailored customs model to “eliminate burdensome goods checks”, the UK Government said.
The draft agreement does not affect sovereignty, stating that nothing signed “shall constitute the basis for any assertion or denial of sovereignty” over the Rock, and protects UK autonomy of key military facilities.
Gibraltar’s airport is run by the Ministry of Defence and hosts an RAF base. The overseas territory also has an important naval facility.
Chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, said the treaty protects the “British way of life” on the Rock, while “unlocking new opportunities for growth”.
The treaty, published in draft form today, still needs to be signed, ratified an implemented.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said: “This treaty ensures that Gibraltar’s economy, people, and future are protected as an integral part of the British family.
“Working closely with the government of Gibraltar – and agreeing nothing without their consent – we have a treaty that preserves sovereignty and delivers certainty when Gibraltar’s way of life was threatened.
“The UK’s commitment to Gibraltar will never falter.”
Picardo said: “This is a safe and secure agreement we have negotiated alongside the UK and that unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need.
“It allows Gibraltar to look to the future with confidence, protecting our British way of life while unlocking new opportunities for growth and prosperity.
“It is an agreement that is very good for Gibraltar-based individuals and businesses that will deliver great growth for our economy.”
Gibraltar was ceded to the UK by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the population is heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory.
The last time it voted on a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move.
Talks on rules governing the border have been ongoing since Britain left the European Union in 2020.
Tommy Robinson visiting US state department should be 'wake-up call' for UK government, Lib Dems say
The Liberal Democrats have said that Tommy Robinson having an unofficial meeting at the US state department with an official working there should be a wake-up moment for the UK government.
Commenting on the story, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said:
The Trump administration hosting Tommy Robinson must be a wake-up call.
The government needs to include the US in their inquiry into foreign interference in UK politics.
We cannot stand by while the likes of Trump and Musk meddle in our democracy.
Updated
Met police apologise to lord speaker for wrongly saying he was source of tip about Mandelson being flight risk
The Metropolitan police has apologised to Michael Forsyth, the lord speaker, after mistakenly telling Peter Mandelson that he was the source of information suggesting Mandelson was about to flee the country. This led to Mandelson being arrested by the police, instead of being allowed to attend an interview voluntarily.
After Forsyth met the police earlier today (see 9.26am), the Met issued a statement saying:
The Met has also apologised to the speaker of the House of Lords, following the inadvertent revealing of information into allegations of misconduct in public office.
It was actually the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, who tipped off the police. Yesterday he received his own apology from the Met.
Corbyn to be Your Party parliamentary leader as Sultana joins leadership committee
Here is Alexandra Topping’s story on the Your Party leadership elections.
Here are the full results for the Your Party central executive committee elections.
Trump administration meets with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been hosted by the Trump administration for a meeting at the state department in Washington, Nadeem Badshah reports.
Corbyn welcomes Your Party leadership election results giving his allies, not Zarah Sultana's, control of its executive
Jeremy Corbyn has welcomed the results of elections that mean his supporters now have a majority on the central executive committee that runs his new party, Your Party.
Activists from his The Many slate won 14 of the seats on the executive, while supporters of his rival Zara Sultana’s Grassroots Left slate won seven of the seats.
The results should pave the way for Corbyn to become the party’s leader in parliament. At a national level, there will be a collective leadership.
Some 25,347 people voted in the election out of 40,985 verified Your Party members, a turnout of 61.8%
In a statement afterwards, Corbyn said:
I am delighted that members have voted for a mass, socialist party that takes the fight to Starmer and Farage.
Now, the real work begins. We have a precious opportunity to unite our movement around a bold vision for this country – one that creates a more caring, equal and peaceful world for all. I look forward to working with all members to make this vision a reality.
We are at a dangerous moment. The fear, divisiveness and racism of Reform should not be appeased. It must be opposed. There is only one way we will defeat them: by working together under a common cause of redistribution and peace.
Together, we can provide hope to those who are fed up with inequality, disempowered by poverty and disgusted by war — and build a society that cares for each other and cares for all.
How government intends to spend a further £50m on two plans to tackle rough sleeping
And here are details of the government’s plans to spend more than £50m on two programmes to tackle homelessness in England. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says:
Leading the way, a £37m Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund will supercharge the work of voluntary, community and faith groups, often the first port of call for people in crisis. This record investment will be allocated competitively to small and medium-sized organisations delivering day-to-day prevention and support services across England. The fund will be used to support projects, staffing and building improvements to expand sector capacity, strengthen community networks and develop long‑term, trauma‑informed approaches to ending rough sleeping.
A further £15m Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme will target the 28 areas facing the greatest long term rough sleeping pressures, including London. Funding will help partners and local authorities find smarter, more joined-up ways to get people off the streets for good, from complex case coordination to peer mentoring and stronger links between services.
Today’s announcements are the next step in the government’s National Plan to End Homelessness, backed by £3.6bn. The plan makes three pledges to be achieved by the end of this parliament: halve long-term rough sleeping, end the unlawful use of B&Bs for families, and prevent more households from becoming homeless in the first place.
Rough sleeping in England reaches 15-year high, government figures suggest
The government has announced plans to spend more than £50m on two programmes to tackle homelessness in England – as figures show rough sleeping at its highest level for 15 years.
In a report, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Goverment said:
The number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 is 4,793. This is a new record high, exceeding the previous peak of 4,751 in 2017. This is the fourth annual increase in a row, increasing 3% since 2024, and 171% higher than 2010 when the snapshot approach was introduced.
The rate of people sleeping rough in England has increased to 8.2 people per 100,000 in the population in 2025 from 8.0 per 100,000 in 2024, though remains lower than the peak in 2017 (8.5 per 100,000).
43% of all people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn are in London and the south-east.
The 4,793 figure is the highest since the government started collected rough sleeping figures by counting the number of people sleeping rough on a single night in 2010.
John Glenton, chief care and support officer at Riverside, an organisation providing accommodation for the homeless, said these figures were “alarming”.
But he also pointed out that other measures show an even rough sleeping at a higher rate. He explained:
The monthly estimates show 9,194 people were sleeping rough in England which paints a truer picture of a humanitarian emergency being normalised on the streets of towns and cities across England.
While we welcome the new £50m of funding to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping it is crucial that homelessness services and supported housing receive long-term sustainable funding.
Bob Blackman, a Conservative MP and co-chair of the all-party group for ending homelessnes, said the figures today were are “a national disgrace and undermine any ambition this government might have to end rough sleeping for good”.
Praising a report by the Centre for Social Justice thinktank on homelessness, he said:
The CSJ’s analysis shows a system trapped in crisis and a state unable to keep pace with the pressures it faces.
The public expect that those with no right to be in the UK, or those who would be better supported by returning home, are not left to languish across our town and city centres.
Your Party is now announcing the results of its leadership team elections. They were due at 11am, but there was a delay. There is a live feed here.
Your Party is about to announcing the results of the elections to its leadership team, its central executive committee. There is a live feed here.
And here is Alexandra Topping’s preview.
Updated
Number of young people not in employment, education or training edges closer to 1m, ONS says
The number of young people not in employment, education or training (so-called Neets) increased in the final months of last year and edged closer to one million, according to official figures. The Press Association says:
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of Neets aged 16 to 24 was reported at 957,00 in the three months from October to December.
It represents an increase from 946,000 in the previous quarter.
It also means that around 12.8% of the age group were classed as Neets over the period.
The data covers young people who are unemployed or economically inactive, but not those who are in formal education or completing an apprenticeship or vocational course.
It is the latest data pointing towards a tough labour market, particularly for entry-level positions.
Separate figures from the ONS earlier this month showed that the overall unemployment rate for Britons rose to 5.2% for the three months to November.
Number of asylum seekers in UK hotels falls to 18-month low
The 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 proceedings
A 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:
Yes. 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:
Can we have some dogs outside polling stations today, please?
Here goes.
Polanski accuses Labour of 'openly lying to voters' in byelection with leaflet quoting fake tactical voting group
The 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.
Last 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”.
Polanksi 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:
The 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.
Updated
Lord speaker to meet Met after he was misidentified as source of Mandelson info
The 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:
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, who has the title lord speaker, was wrongly said in some media reports to have passed information to the police ahead of the former ambassador to Washington’s arrest on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Lord Mandelson, who has been accused of passing sensitive information on to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as business secretary, has been bailed until May.
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle yesterday revealed he was the source of the information about Lord Mandelson, after media reports suggested the Met had arrested the peer because he could be a flight risk.
His lawyers said this was a “baseless suggestion”.
A House of Lords source said the lord speaker is having an urgent meeting with the Met on Thursday and expects to receive clarification about how he came to be incorrectly named.
The source said Lord Forsyth wants to know why, amid media reports attributing the information to him, he was not contacted about the issue.
Home Office denies ‘absurd’ criticism over rule change that could 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, Lisa O’Carroll reports.
Starmer and Polanski both claim their parties best placed to beat Reform UK as polls open in Gorton and Denton
Good 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:
The 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:
It's Reform Vs the Green Party.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 26, 2026
Vote for the Green Party.https://t.co/3MeXlTpdco
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.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 26, 2026
If you can't vote today - then join us instead!https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp
And, in his statement, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said:
Our 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.
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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.
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Updated
