Tactical Voting Groups Say Greens – Not Labour – Will Stop Reform In By-Election

Tactical voters in Gorton and Denton should back the Green Party to stop Reform UK, according to two prominent organisations.

Days before the electorate hit the ballot box in the Greater Manchester constituency, Tactical.Vote and StopTheTories.Vote have concluded that supporting the Greens is the best way to prevent Nigel Farage’s party gaining another MP.

Gorton and Denton has typically been a Labour seat, but the growing popularity of both the Greens and Reform – alongside Keir Starmer’s declining approval rating – means the three parties have been locked in brutal battle for the constituency.

The recommendation comes after a poll from Omnisis of 452 people put Green candidate Hannah Spencer on top with 22% of the vote, while Reform’s Matt Goodwin would take 20% and Labour’s Angeliki Stogia 18%.

A Green Party spokesperson said: “We are delighted that the tactical voting organisations, who just want to make sure that Reform’s politics of hate doesn’t slip through the middle because of a split in anti-Reform vote, are urging people to vote Green. 

“The evidence is clear that only the Green Party can beat Reform in Gorton and Denton, and we would urge Labour voters to lend us their vote, to ensure that Reform don’t get a foothold in Manchester to spread their division and hatred.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The single poll this recommendation is based on has been criticised for its sample size and showed a huge number of people in this race are yet to make up their minds. 

“Only Labour has the breadth of support across the constituency to get this over the line.”

 Reform has been approached for comment.

The tactical voting advice comes after Green’s internal canvassing data predicted Reform is on track to win 35.7% of the vote, the Greens 35.5% and Labour 22.5%.

Green leader Zack Polanski also wrote to Powell over the weekend, after the senior Labour figure claimed his party does not have the “base or the breadth of support” to win the seat in a letter earlier this month.

“If you are as concerned about stopping Reform as you proposed in your letter, the course is now clear: in the spirit in which you wrote to me, you should now urge your members and former voters to back Hannah Spencer on the 26th February to stop Reform and make hope normal again,” he said.