Farage targets by-election with second constituency visit in a week
Mr Farage opened the campaign offices for Reform UK in Denton, alongside his party’s candidate Matt Goodwin.
Nigel Farage made his second campaign visit to a crucial by-election destination as Reform UK hope to overturn Labour’s hold in Gorton and Denton.
Mr Farage opened the campaign offices for Reform UK in Denton, alongside his party’s candidate, Matt Goodwin, and around 100 party faithful.
He claimed the party’s campaign had got off to a “very, very good start” before cutting the ribbon to open the party’s by-election HQ, during his second visit in seven days to the constituency.
Mr Farage said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had displayed “terrible” judgment regarding Lord Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, and described the affair as “the biggest scandal for 100 years”.
After fielding questions on the national political scene, Mr Farage was asked about the Prime Minister’s speech, earlier on Thursday, promising £800m to arrest the decline in communities.
He said: “This is classic, classic, what governments in trouble do. There’s a by-election going on. And let’s face it, Gorton and Denton is a very high-profile by-election.
“So you announce you’re going to splurge, lots and lots of money, so people are going to say, ‘OK, we forgive you for everything’.
“Look, this is about the sixth safest Labour seat in all the country. Been Labour since the end of the First World War.
“But there is now a real fight going on here. I think we’re off to a very, very good start.
“And what we don’t yet know is, what will the impact of the Mandelson affair be.
“I think where this potentially helps us is people say, ‘Well, look, we want to get rid of Starmer, we’ve had enough, and this by-election could be the way to do it’.”
Labour has announced Angeliki Stogia, Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range, as its candidate after Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was blocked from standing.
The by-election was prompted when former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne stood down citing health reasons.
Mr Gwynne won the seat for Labour with more than half the vote – 18,555 – in 2024 while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK came second on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens with 4,810.
Councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer will run for the Greens, the Conservatives have chosen retired police detective Charlotte Cadden to run, while the Liberal Democrats have named local campaigner Jackie Pearcey.
Voters go to the polls on February 26.
