The Gorton & Denton by-election has received significant national media attention, with Keir Starmer looking set for another defeat, ahead of what could be a catastrophic round of local elections for Labour in May.
At the time of writing, Farage’s Reform UK are leading the polls locally at 32 percent, with the Greens next at 23.3 percent – 1 percent ahead of Labour.
But following the Greens’ announcement of their candidate, local plumber and councillor Hannah Spencer, the party has pulled slightly ahead of Reform as the bookies’ favourite. It’s all to play for, meaning the commotion in the press will likely roll on until election day on 26 February.
Hundreds of volunteers hitting the streets this morning in Gorton and Denton.
Lower bills, tax the super-rich – hope will win.
Only the Greens can stop Reform in this by-election. pic.twitter.com/1lko5FQyu4
— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) January 31, 2026
Both Reform and the Greens are putting all their resources into this election, sending Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski, respectively, to South Manchester. Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf has also challenged Polanski to a live debate in the constituency.
With this political frenzy on our doorstep, Revolutionary Communist Party members went out across Manchester to talk to students and workers to hear their thoughts about the contest. The most common response: “What by-election? I didn’t know there was one.”
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For many, the local by-election was far down on their agenda of worries and frustrations. Instead, they mostly wanted to talk to us about the inspiring movement against ICE in Minnesota, as well as the Epstein files, Venezuela, and Palestine.
One arms-industry worker summed up the general disgust with parliamentary politics: “Why should I care about this by-election? I voted in the last one. Nothing’s changed. I’ve still got bills coming out my arse.”
As we expected, Starmer’s blocking of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was often the first thing people spoke about in regards to this contest. While Starmer came out worse in many people’s eyes, no one we spoke to bought into either side of this factional spat between Labour bureaucrats and careerists.
One student said of Burnham: “He’s a corrupt bastard, but not as bad as Keir Starmer, that’s for sure. I’m glad he’ll stay as Mayor; I don’t want Gary Neville, thank you.”
Many left-wing people we spoke with were concerned about a Reform victory and what it would mean. A lot of them were fed up with Labour, who blamed Green voters for Reform’s victory in Runcorn & Helsby last year.
When we asked them how they think we could stop Reform, a few pointed towards the Greens. One person said: “I guess I’ll have to vote Green. There isn’t much choice is there?” That person turned out to be a Green Party member!
Clearly, the liberal ‘love, hope, and unity’ politics that has been front-and-centre of the Greens’ campaign so far hasn’t been enough to fire up the workers and young people we spoke to.
But there is plenty of class anger out there on the streets of Manchester – around corruption, the cost of living, and wealth inequality – that Polanski’s anti-establishment, anti-billionaire message could tap into.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that our ice-breaker “do you think we need a revolution?” managed to attract a lot of attention from passers-by, who were keen to hear more about The Communist and the RCP.
We are looking forward to having more stalls and conversations over the next month, connecting with the concerns of ordinary Mancunians, and promoting our upcoming programme of Marxist Society meetings.
There is relative apathy towards the election right now, but it is still early days, and that could change. This may turn out to be a very politicised few weeks in the local area. We will continue to be out there on the streets promoting revolutionary communist ideas.
