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83 headlines found — Page 7 of 7

The Guardian Politics26 Feb 2026

Labour must search its conscience if Reform wins Gorton and Denton, says Green leader

Zack Polanski says Labour deliberately splitting left vote as voters head to the polls The polls have opened in the three-way battle for Gorton and Denton in south-east Manchester in one of the most unpredictable byelections in years. The Green party leader Zack Polanski said his party was “neck and neck” with Reform UK to overturn Labour’s 13,000-vote majority, and that Labour will need to “search their conscience” if Reform UK wins.Keir Starmer’s party has targeted left-leaning voters in the G

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The Guardian Politics26 Feb 2026

What a Gorton byelection win would mean for Reform, Greens and Labour

Polls put seat in three-way dead heat with Labour facing threats from Reform and Green party in once safe seat The Gorton and Denton byelection is the biggest electoral test yet for Keir Starmer before what are expected to be disastrous results for Labour in the May local elections. Polls put the race in a three-way dead heat, making it nearly impossible to call. The vote is particularly symbolic because of the threat Labour faces from Reform UK and the Green party in a once safe seat. Should La

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The Guardian Politics25 Feb 2026

The Guardian view on violent online rhetoric: all politicians have a duty to set a civil tone | Editorial

The ability to conduct polite debate on social media, without amplifying menaces and lies, is a basic qualification for public office The impulse to post on social media often overwhelms judgment of what is appropriate to share. Knowing when not to succumb to that urge, exercising due diligence before passing on material that is flatly false or offensive, is an indispensable skill for politicians in the digital age. Or it should be. It is a test failed by Simon Evans, a Reform UK councillor and

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The Guardian Politics25 Feb 2026

Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin will not face sanctions over byelection leaflet error

High court judge accepts material distributed without legally required imprint due to inadvertent printing mistake UK politics live – latest updates Matt Goodwin, Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, will not face a sanction for leaflets that omitted the party’s imprint, after a high court judge accepted this was due to an inadvertent printing error. Reform admitted that it sent about 81,000 leaflets to the constituency’s voters from a “concerned neighbour”, which did not

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The Guardian Politics25 Feb 2026

How is Reform’s charmless candidate still a contender in Gorton and Denton? Ask Labour | George Monbiot

This byelection should have been a stroll for Keir Starmer’s party. Instead, all hope of defeating Matt Goodwin now seems to lie with the Greens Every barb Labour has directed at the Greens can now be returned with interest. “It’s a wasted vote.” “Do you want to see Reform in power?” New polling ahead of the crucial Gorton and Denton byelection this week, while by no means decisive, puts the Greens first on 22%, followed by Reform UK (20%), then Labour (18%), with 31% undecided. But still Keir S

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The Guardian Politics25 Feb 2026

From Trump’s Maga to Farage’s Reform, they’re all following Putin’s nationalism playbook | Rafael Behr

Reform is promising a ‘patriotic school curriculum’ – but what does that mean? In the end it comes down to submission to the leader In September 2022, seven months into an all-out war in Ukraine that was only supposed to last a few weeks, Russian schoolchildren started compulsory patriotism lessons. Since then, Monday mornings have been set aside for “conversations about what is important” – a class on the glories of national history; western perfidy; the virtue of self-sacrifice for the Motherl

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The Guardian Politics24 Feb 2026

Do the British left’s hopes lie with the Greens, Labour or even Your Party? The answer could be all three | Joe Todd

No single organisation can deliver the change that socialists want. As Nigel Farage has shown, politics has to be ruthlessly tactical For the long-marginalised British left, parliamentary byelections aren’t usually cause for much excitement. But Gorton and Denton is different. Polls, bookmakers and tactical-voting websites name the Greens as the close-run favourites, and thousands of activists have been knocking on doors for “Hannah the plumber”, a popular local councillor and proud owner of fou

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The Guardian Politics24 Feb 2026

Neighbour does not hate neighbour in Gorton and Denton. That’s why Labour will beat Reform | Angeliki Stogia

We see Thursday’s byelection as a straight fight between us and Farage’s poisonous politics. I think people will vote for each other – and for hope Angeliki Stogia is the Labour candidate in Gorton and Denton Manchester has always been a place shaped by solidarity, by the belief that what you contribute matters more than where you come from, and by a quiet but unshakeable pride in looking out for one another. Some people are born here, others are drawn here, but, after more than 30 years of ca

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The Guardian Politics24 Feb 2026

I have seen the scale of the mountain Labour has to climb in Gorton and Denton – but also the way it can do it | Polly Toynbee

In focus groups, people are clear they want to stop Farage at all costs. Labour must now reach out to the progressives it has disappointed The great gulf between left and right yawns deeper and wider. One way or another, the Gorton and Denton byelection this week will reveal this profound tribal divide. Those in the progressive bloc – Labour, Lib Dem, Green, SNP, Plaid – are very different kinds of people to the blues, with diametrically opposed attitudes. In more centrist days there was some sh

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The Guardian Politics18 Feb 2026

Ben Jennings on Nigel Farage’s ‘shadow cabinet’ – cartoon

Discover and buy more of Ben’s cartoons here Order your own print of this cartoon from the Guardian Print Shop Continue reading...

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The Guardian Politics17 Feb 2026

Ella Baron on Nigel Farage toasting Keir Starmer’s latest U-turn – cartoon

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