[Youngian]

The globe trotting petrol head went to Spain and California over a decade ago.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... mailonline

[Tubby Isaacs]

It's not a good constituency for the Greens, but it's a very good time for a by-election for them, and Mr Burnham certainly didn't help Labour.

If Reform were to win by a small amount, I wouldn't blame anyone but the clowns who vote them. Smaller parties are entitled to go for it in a by-election, it's one of the few chances they get to make a wider impression (Zack has done that, with his comic pushing him) and the Government party obviously has to try and defend a safe seat.

But constituency polls aren't generally particularly reliable anyway.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The globe trotting petrol head went to Spain and California over a decade ago.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... mailonline

Ha ha ha.

That's almost Louise Mensch standard. She accused Occupy protestors of hypocrisy because some of them had been seen holding takeaway coffee cups.

[The Weeping Angel]

Meanwhile, Matt Goodwin has been causing some HR issues at GB News.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... SApp_Other

Matt Goodwin, Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, was accused by a young woman working at GB News of making inappropriate comments which she viewed as sexually harassing, the Guardian can reveal.

The junior staffer complained to HR last year alleging Goodwin had made inappropriate comments, one regarding her appearance, sources say. Goodwin, 44, volunteered an apology after the complaint had been raised.

The woman is understood to have complained to the network’s HR department in 2025. She later left the network for unrelated reasons.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is understood to have been told by a senior member of staff at GB News about the complaint prior to Goodwin’s selection as the party’s candidate for next week’s byelection.

[mattomac]

It doesn’t much surprise me.

He is one the of nastiest candidates I’ve seen in a long time in relation to women and women’s rights.

[Youngian]

The globe trotting petrol head went to Spain and California over a decade ago.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... mailonline

Ha ha ha.

That's almost Louise Mensch standard. She accused Occupy protestors of hypocrisy because some of them had been seen holding takeaway coffee cups.

Protesting lefty hypocrites going to Starbucks wasn't a very clever gotcha. Two things Karl Marx was noted for liking were coffee shops and the possibilities capitalist mass production bought.

If you're a lefty that avoids posh expensive hair dos, the brilliant mind of Julia H-B can still trip you up.

[The Weeping Angel]

Dispatches from Gorton & Denton.

https://www.ft.com/content/7a2d92bd-44e ... 421571d773


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https://www.ft.com/content/7a2d92bd-44e ... 421571d773

“Manchester has always been Labour,” was Angeliki Stogia’s response to suggestions the party was now only a “distant third” in the Gorton and Denton by-election race.

“We are constantly on the doorstep and acting on what people tell us,” the party’s candidate said in an Instagram video where she rebutted critical social media comments.

Yet while the area has indeed reliably voted Labour for most of the last century, the party knows that may not be the case in Thursday’s vote. 

Some Labour activists fear that Sir Keir Starmer’s party could come third to the leftwing Greens and rightwing Reform, which have both run energetic, populist campaigns against the party struggling in No 10. 

Such a result would be a fresh blow to Starmer, whose position has been further weakened this month by the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal and the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar calling for him to resign.

[Youngian]

Apart from checking Reform another reason not to worry about a Green win is to see Hannah Spencer MP in TV studios having to answer questions on economics, defence and geopolitics. Come the next GE; 'You've had your fun Denton but really..'

[Tubby Isaacs]

Zack's been in a lot more studios than Carla Denyer, and it's not yet done him any harm.

[The Weeping Angel]

Zack's been in a lot more studios than Carla Denyer, and it's not yet done him any harm.

The worry is that this and other results encourage voters who want to stop Reform, meaning Labour lose seats like this to the Greens in the future.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Vote Green for Prime Minister Polanski is different to a by-election. Much harder nut to crack.

[davidjay]

Would an increase in MPs mean Reform gets more central funding?

[Oboogie]

Vote Green for Prime Minister Polanski is different to a by-election. Much harder nut to crack.

The Greens can throw everything they've got at a by-election but they lack the resources (money and volunteers) to fight a GE, plus they won't have accurate data to indicate their target seats.

[soulboy]

Would an increase in MPs mean Reform gets more central funding?

If you are referring to "short money", no. That is based on the previous general election.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... s/sn01663/

Expect special case pleading soon.

[Abernathy]

I think Nigel Knobhead does get to line up and lay a wreath at the cenotaph, mind.

[Youngian]

It was all going so well

[Bones McCoy]

Bovvered?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Bovvered?

Kiss of death.

[Abernathy]

Well. Jez was never going to endorse the Labour candidate, was he ? Presumably they can’t find a Your Party candidate that wasn’t busy fighting with other Your Party members.