With nothing positive to offer the residents of Gorton & Denton, the Labour Party was reduced to releasing attack ads against the Green Party, as well as outrightly lying about voting predictions ahead of the by-election result.
One such smear included Keir Starmer stating that he was shocked at the idea that, under a Green government, his son could go out and buy heroin. I would probably turn to the needle if I was unfortunate enough to be our PM’s child. But that aside, it is this kind of nauseating drivel that shows exactly how far Labour has fallen.
Zack Polanski doesn’t want you to watch this… pic.twitter.com/H8TcUgIOsc
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) February 21, 2026
Not content with spewing this crap, more reminiscent of a Brass Eye sketch than a party political broadcast, Labour also decided that they should play to their strengths and simply lie to the electorate!
As if by magic, Sir Keir and his cronies pulled a tactical voting organisation out of a hat, ‘Tactical Choice’, which stated on the party’s campaign leaflets: “Based on a new prediction made in the last 24 hours, we are recommending voting Labour.”
Tactical Choice exists nowhere online, and Labour officials have not denied accusations that they made this organisation up.
🚨BREAKING: new poll suggests there is just one point between Labour and Reform in Gorton and Denton.
Every vote will count on Thursday. Back Labour and choose unity over Reform’s division. pic.twitter.com/q8ocoMqKCP
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) February 24, 2026
Punished over Palestine
But maybe the icing on this rather unappetising cake was Labour’s claims that the Greens were ‘whipping up hatred’ over Gaza.
These allegations were based on pictures of Green candidate Hannah Spencer wearing a keffiyeh, as well as election materials stating that Labour needed to be punished for what they have done to the Palestinian people.
If anyone has whipped up hatred over Gaza, it is Labour themselves: saying that Israel has the right to cut off food and water to Palestine; proscribing Palestine Action; toying with the idea of Trump’s reactionary “board of peace”.
Similarly, this week, deputy Green leader Mothin Ali was accused in Parliament of supporting the theocratic regime in Iran, simply for attending a rally against the latest US-Israeli bombing campaign in the Middle East. Notably, the Labour leaders did nothing to challenge these blatantly Islamophobic claims.
With all this, Starmer has fuelled a deep-seated anger towards the entire political establishment. Everyone hated Labour before this by-election. Keffiyehs and Green Party leaflets have little to do with it.
Dog-whistle racism
Starmer and his cronies have tied themselves hand and foot to the bosses, whilst swearing fealty to Trump. At home, we’re faced with cuts; abroad, meanwhile, Britain plays the part of loyal laptop for US imperialism.
All of this means that Labour is reduced to playing up the culture war, throwing the vulnerable in society under the bus, and attempting to distract from their inability to solve the problems that workers and the poor are faced with.
Speaking of culture wars: Farage’s Reform found common ground with Labour in Gorton & Denton, raising an Islamophobic hue and cry about Urdu language leaflets, ‘dangerous Muslim sectarianism’, and Palestinian flags all being present in the Green’s campaign.
Much like stroppy child, Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin has said that the Greens cheated.
Referring to a report made by Democracy Volunteers, who go around observing behaviour at polling stations, Goodwin – amplified with the help of the capitalist media – has stated that instances of ‘family voting’ occurred in this contest. This is where one family member dictates how the rest of their family should vote.
An impressive result for @reformparty_uk today. We more than doubled our vote and beat Labour in their own backyard. Huge credit to @GoodwinMJ and the thousands of volunteers.
The wider campaign, however, should be a wake up call.
South Asian men instructing women how to vote…
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) February 27, 2026
Why these reactionaries left it until after the results to raise their concerns, as opposed to alerting volunteers at the ballot stations, only they can answer.
With little evidence to back up their allegations, these complaints come across simply as dog-whistle racism; slanderous objections from a sore loser.
Running scared
The Greens gave Labour and Reform a thrashing in Gorton & Denton: an expression of how hated Labour are, and how Reform are shifting closer to the establishment with their absorption of so many notorious Tories.
“We are working to line the pockets of billionaires, we are being bled dry,” said Spencer during her victory speech. This will have echoed with many working-class voters – across the constituency, and across the country.
This is what has left Starmer’s Labour and Farage’s Reform so scared – forced to resort to lies and smears against Polanski and the Greens.
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Revolutionary outlook resonates with Green student supporters
Zeb Datta, Manchester
Recently at the University of Manchester, we had a Marxist Society meeting on the Gorton & Denton by-election and the fight against Labour and Reform. This was a great success! In particular, we were pleased to have several Green Society members in attendance, who had been involved in canvassing for Hannah Spencer.
At the end of my talk, I was slightly worried that I’d gone a bit heavy on my political criticisms of Zack Polanski and the Green Party leaders, as I did make several sharp challenges to their lack of policies, and their reformist outlook. But during the discussion, it became clear that our visitors from the Greens fully agreed with us!
We did not shy away from criticising the identity politics of the Green’s campaign, which focused on Spencer as a working-class plumber – strikingly reminiscent of Angela Rayner’s cultivated public image. Nor did we stop short of criticising Spencer’s moralistic sloganeering about ‘love’, ‘hope’, and ‘unity’.
At all times, however, we aimed our criticisms not at the thousands of students and workers who have turned out to canvas and support the Greens, but at the party’s programme and leadership, which can’t seriously address the problems of capitalism.
From our interactions with Green members and supporters over the past few weeks, we have learned that the party is very heterogenous.
In general, people don’t have adulation and deep illusions in Polanski and his crew, like many people did during the Corbyn movement. Instead, they are cautiously supportive of his potential. And they are desperate for a viable political vehicle to fight Labour and Reform – rightly so; we are too!
There are likely tens of thousands of people who are thinking along these lines. We must be friendly and firm: finding common ground, while offering clear Marxist perspectives and concrete criticisms. The reformist leaders can put forward diluted politics and abstract slogans; we must offer patient explanation and bold ideas.
