2026 Gorton and Denton by-election
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Gorton and Denton will be held on Thursday, 26 February 2026. It was triggered by the resignation of Andrew Gwynne, who was sitting as an independent following his suspension from the Labour Party in February 2025. Gwynne said his resignation was due to "significant ill health", and advice from his doctor that it was unsafe for him to return to work.
It will be the second parliamentary by-election during Keir Starmer's tenure as prime minister, after the Runcorn and Helsby by-election of 1 May 2025.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, applied to be the Labour Party candidate, but his candidacy was blocked by the party's National Executive Committee. Commentators described his bid as a potential route back to Westminster, and a possible springboard for a future leadership challenge to Starmer.
Background
Gorton and Denton is a predominantly urban constituency in Greater Manchester, containing electoral wards of both the City of Manchester and the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside. It contains such areas as Burnage, Denton, Gorton, Levenshulme and Longsight. Muslims account for some 28% of the constituency's population.Andrew Gwynne was first elected as the Labour MP for the constituency of Denton and Reddish in the 2005 general election, and was re-elected to the seat for the four subsequent parliaments. Denton and Reddish was abolished in the 2023 Periodic Review. In the 2024 general election, Gwynne won the new constituency of Gorton and Denton with 50.8% of the vote and a majority of 13,413.
Gwynne served in the Starmer ministry as a health minister until February 2025, when he was dismissed from his ministerial role and suspended from the Labour Party as a result of comments he made in a private WhatsApp group. Following his suspension, Gwynne sat as an independent MP in the House of Commons.
Speculation began in mid-2025 that Gwynne would stand down on health grounds so that Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, could stand in his seat. In September 2025, Gwynne denied that he would stand down and rejected the idea. There was also speculation that Burnham's allies were drawing up a list of possible constituencies where he could stand in a by-election, including Gwynne's; at the time, Gwynne said he had no intention of standing down before the 2026 local elections in May.
On 22 January 2026, Gwynne announced his resignation, citing "significant ill health" and advice from his doctor that it was unsafe for him to return to work. He was appointed Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead the following day. The election was formally called by Manchester City Council on 28 January.
Candidates
The final list of candidates will be published on 3 February 2026 at 5pm GMT.Labour Party
Andy Burnham's proposed candidacy
Following media and public speculation, Andy Burnham, the incumbent Mayor of Greater Manchester and former MP for Leigh, requested approval to stand as Labour's candidate on 24 January. As a sitting directly elected mayor, the party's rules required him to seek the approval of the party's National Executive Committee before putting himself forward for selection as a parliamentary candidate. The NEC met on 25 January and voted 8–1 against Burnham's candidacy. In the vote, NEC Chair and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood abstained, Prime Minister Keir Starmer voted against, and party Deputy Leader Lucy Powell voted for allowing Burnham to stand. Burnham expressed his disappointment and concern about the impact of the ruling for Labour in the 2026 United Kingdom local elections, the 2026 Scottish Parliament election and 2026 Senedd election. After the decision to block Burnham from standing as a Labour candidate, 50 Labour MPs and half a dozen Labour peers signed a letter objecting to the NEC's decision.The by-election had been framed by the media as a route for Burnham to return to Westminster and potentially challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership. Labour figures were reported to be concerned that Burnham's candidacy would trigger a by-election for the position of mayor, which would be expensive and politically risky for the party: MP Graham Stringer expressed his reluctance to let Reform UK "have a go" at winning the mayoralty. Burnham's application to stand in the by-election was supported by some senior Labour figures, including former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Powell, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. Labour sources also stated concerns to the BBC about the prospect of a "divisive campaign". Andrea Egan, the general secretary of the Unison trade union, warned against any potential "stitch-up" in Labour's selection process. Mainstream, a group associated with Burnham, launched a petition to Mahmood calling for a "fair, democratic and open selection". Momentum also expressed support for Burnham's candidacy.
Candidate selection
Angeliki Stogia was announced as the Labour Party candidate on 31 January, beating Eamonn O'Brien, the leader of Bury Council. Fellow Manchester City Council members Rabnawaz Akbar, Abid Latif Chohan, and Julie Reid were also on the longlist. Stogia is a councillor for nearby Whalley Range, and although not in the constituency itself, her local credentials were noted by Labour insiders speaking to The Guardian as a contributing factor to her victory in an otherwise "closely fought" race.Reform UK
Matt Goodwin, a conservative political commentator, right-wing activist, GB News presenter and former professor at the University of Kent, was announced as the Reform UK candidate on 27 January.Zia Yusuf had previously been mentioned as a potential candidate.
Green Party
On 30 January, the Green Party candidate was announced as Hannah Spencer, Trafford Council member for Hale, who had been the Green candidate in the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election. Spencer, a plumber, is a life-long resident of Greater Manchester and has said that she previously lived in the constituency. She was democratically selected by the local party at an online hustings event the night before, beating Muslim Greens co-chair Fesl Reza-Khan and local campaigner Sarah Wakefield.Party leader Zack Polanski and co-deputy leader Mothin Ali did not stand, though earlier it had been reported that each was considering doing so.
Other political parties
The Conservative Party announced on 1 February that their candidate would be Charlotte Cadden, a former detective Chief inspector who served with both Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police.The Liberal Democrats announced on 30 January that that their candidate would be Jackie Pearcey, a local resident and school governor who had previously stood in 2017 and 2019 in Manchester Gorton, which covered the western part of the current constituency.
On 1 February 2026, Advance UK announced their candidate as Nick Buckley, a former member of Reform UK who came third as an independent in the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral election.
The Social Democratic Party announced on 29 January that its candidate would be Sebastian Moore, the party's North West Chair. He previously stood as the party's candidate in Manchester Central in 2024.
The Rejoin EU Party announced on 31 January that its candidate would be Joseph O'Meachair, a member of the party's executive committee who stood for the party in Preston in the 2024 general election.
Parties not contesting
Initially, the Workers Party's leader George Galloway said he would stand if Burnham became the Labour candidate. On 28 January, the party said that it had not yet chosen its candidate and would choose from a list of four contenders, including Galloway and Manchester City Councillor Shahbaz Sarwar. On 1 February, the party announced that it had decided not to stand in the Gorton by-election, describing it as "in the best interests of the working-class" for Labour and Reform to lose.Your Party will not field a candidate as the by-election date coincides with the election of the party's Central Executive Committee, which will make decisions on election candidates. In a statement released on 2 February, they said that standing would not "serve collective goals", instead urging supporters to "actively mobilise" against Reform in the constituency.
Campaign
Labour campaign
The Guardian wrote that Labour's campaign had received a severe setback due to six local Labour councillors having been found to have shown "complete disregard" for standards in public life, with one of them being judged to have made "several remarks that a reasonable person would find racist" in a "vile" WhatsApp chat. These findings are expected to be reviewed by the council less than four weeks before the by-election takes place.The Independent reported that Labour MPs were despondent and disinclined to campaign for Stogia. Suspecting a large defeat in the historically safe seat amid concerns over Starmer's leadership, and following Burnham being blocked from standing, one Labour MP told the paper that "we all know it is between the Greens and Reform".
On 27 January, Labour shared a video on social media of Goodwin saying at the 2023 Reform UK conference that he was "unfortunate enough to be in Manchester a few days ago", and captioned the video "This is what Reform's latest candidate thinks about where he's standing to represent". In response, Goodwin said that the video was misleading and that he was referring to the 2023 Conservative Party conference, which was held in Manchester. Reform said that they had reported the video to the Greater Manchester Police under Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 as a "false statement of fact" against its candidate. On 29 January, Greater Manchester Police announced that they would not be proceeding with an investigation after "no offence identified". Full Fact confirmed that the speech was made less than a week after the Conservative conference in Manchester, which Goodwin had attended. They commented that the video did not mention this fact and that they had not seen any evidence to suggest that Goodwin was referring to Manchester as a city rather than to the conference.
Keir Starmer has described the by-election as a contest between Labour and Reform. Labour began focusing campaign material against the Green Party, which similarly positioned itself as the main contender to Reform at the start of the campaign, in order to avoid what Labour insiders dubbed a "Caerphilly scenario" – namely, the suggestion that Labour voters could tactically vote for the Greens in order to stop a Reform win, as was largely seen to be the case in Labour's loss to Plaid Cymru in the 2025 Caerphilly by-election. Labour largely criticised the Greens' party policy of drug decriminalisation.
Reform UK campaign
Reform UK's Tameside Council member for Longdendale, Allan Hopwood, said the party had been planning for a by-election for months prior. Goodwin positioned the by-election as a "referendum on Keir Starmer" during the Reform launch event, and told The Times that his aim was for Starmer to resign if Reform won in the constituency.Following the announcement of his candidacy, Goodwin was criticised by Labour and Green figures for refusing to disown past claims that UK-born people from ethnic minority backgrounds are not necessarily British.
On 26 January, during Reform's campaign, chief whip Lee Anderson was criticised by former Labour deputy prime minister Angela Rayner for posting images depicting Reform activists that he stated were campaigning in Gorton and Denton, but were actually photographed in Rayner's constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne. In response, Anderson commented that "a big enough car park to accommodate our volunteers was chosen just outside the constituency. All volunteers then left to campaign in the constituency."
Far-right activist and English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson endorsed Goodwin on the 30 January. In response, a Labour spokesperson described the endorsement as "toxic politics", while Starmer accused Reform of "poisonous division". A Reform spokesperson said in response to Robinson's endorsement: "We have consistently been clear on this issue. He isn't welcome in the party." Goodwin also rejected the endorsement.
On 2 February, Reform released online material criticising the Conservative candidate Charlotte Cadden for having fundraised for the LGBT Foundation in 2011, who have since published guidance for illegal immigrants seeking to secure leave to remain. The Conservatives said that she "completely disagrees" with said guidance and was no longer associated with the organisation.
Green campaign
Zack Polanski formally launched the Green Party campaign on 27 January at a rally, which was also supported by Your Party member and former Respect Party leader, Salma Yaqoob. At the event, he framed the Green campaign to the economic left of Labour and denied that the Greens would split the progressive vote, citing the government's proposed cuts to disability benefits to suggest that Labour is not a "left-wing party". The Green Party have described the by-election as a "Reform–Green battle", and had begun canvassing in the seat by 25 January.The pressure group The Muslim Vote endorsed the Greens ahead of a formal candidate announcement, and PoliticsHome reported that Your Party is discussing endorsing the Greens.
On 28 January, a bar chart used in Green literature was criticised by Full Fact. The bar chart displayed percentage point changes compared to the previous general, and claimed "only the Greens can stop Reform" when the model showed Labour winning and Greens coming in third. However, Full Fact said that another model had predicted a Green Party victory.
Opinion polls
On 28 January, The Telegraph reported on a poll by Find Out Now, shown below, which surveyed Gorton and Denton residents. Tyron Surmon, the head of research at Find Out Now, confirmed to the paper that the small initial sample size of 143 carried a high margin of error. After adjusting for turnout and removing "don't know"s, the final voting intention calculation had a sample size of only 51 for the general poll and 57 for the hypothetical poll. The poll was criticised by other pollsters due to this small sample size. Find Out Now apologised for "any impression that the data was more precise than it could be".;With Andy Burnham as the Labour candidate