{"id":600,"date":"2026-02-04T10:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T10:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/?p=600"},"modified":"2026-02-04T10:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T10:48:39","slug":"gorton-and-denton-by-election-tests-labours-grip-on-heartland-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/?p=600","title":{"rendered":"Gorton and Denton by-election tests Labour\u2019s grip on heartland voters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><main aria-label=\"Main content area\"><\/main><\/p>\n<header class=\"article-header\">\n<h1>Gorton and Denton by-election tests Labour\u2019s grip on heartland voters<\/h1>\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Internal rifts, growing support for smaller parties are challenging Labour\u2019s dominance in Greater Manchester.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/getty_698312413a-1770197569.jpg?resize=730%2C410&amp;quality=80\" \/><span>Video Duration 02 minutes 39 seconds <\/span><title>play-arrow<\/title><span>02:39<\/span><\/p>\n<p>By-election in northern England reflects growing cracks in UK politics<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80\" \/><\/a><span>By <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458\">Al Jazeera Staff<\/a><span>Published On 4 Feb 2026<\/span><span>4 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<div class=\"wysiwyg wysiwyg--all-content\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p>A by-election in northern England that should have been routine for the governing Labour Party is instead becoming a test of how fragmented British politics has become.<\/p>\n<p>Voters in the Gorton and\u00a0Denton constituency of Greater Manchester are set to cast ballots on February 26 after long-serving MP Andrew Gwynne resigned in January.<\/p>\n<p>Eleven candidates are vying for the seat: Sir Oink A-Lot (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Nick Buckley (Advance UK); Charlotte Cadden (Conservative Party); Dan Clarke (Libertarian Party); Matt Goodwin (Reform UK); Sebastian Moore (Social Democratic Party); Joseph O\u2019Meachair (Rejoin EU Party); Jackie Pearcey (Liberal Democrats); Hannah Spencer (Green Party); Angeliki Stogia (Labour Party); and Hugo Wills (Communist League).<\/p>\n<p>For years, Gorton and Denton was considered a Labour stronghold, but now the party faces a battle amid growing voter dissatisfaction and internal friction.<\/p>\n<p>The lead-up to the vote has been dominated by a high-profile dispute over the selection of Labour\u2019s new candidate after a bid by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to stand as the candidate was blocked, with the party\u2019s leadership choosing Stogia, a local councillor, to defend the seat.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Labour commands loyal support. \u201c[They do a] very good job and we support them,\u201d Khaled Osman, a local supporter, told Al Jazeera. \u201cWe appreciate everything they do: the support for refugees, for asylum, and for the people who work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone, however, in this diverse and relatively deprived constituency feels that way.<\/p>\n<p><span> Advertisement <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe sooner Labour\u2019s out of power, the better,\u201d said resident Colin Hensey, pointing to the decline of local services. \u201cWherever you go, you\u2019re trying to get a doctor\u2019s appointment now. And yet, this is why everybody is going off to the A&amp;E [accident and emergency] because they can\u2019t get local appointments at the surgery. We never had this problem 20, 30 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Labour\u2019s left flank, the Green Party is positioning itself as an alternative, arguing that the governing party has moved away from some the values it once championed.<\/p>\n<p>The far-right Reform UK is also vying for a victory, presenting itself as the anti-system voice \u2013 tough on immigration and crime, and openly hostile to what it calls a broken political class.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Labour\u2019s let us down for years,\u201d said Carl Morris, a Reform supporter. \u201cI\u2019ve worked in Denton for 28 years now, and the place is just full of rubbish. People are dumping stuff all over the show. Labour\u2019s done nothing for this town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reporting from Gorton and Denton, Al Jazeera\u2019s Sonia Gallego said every single vote will count in the seemingly tight contest later this month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a struggle for who gets to channel the frustrations felt here and where it goes next,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gorton and Denton by-election tests Labour\u2019s grip on heartland voters Internal rifts, growing support for smaller parties are challenging Labour\u2019s dominance in Greater Manchester. Video Duration 02 minutes 39 seconds play-arrow02:39 By-election in northern England reflects growing cracks in UK politics By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 4 Feb 20264 Feb 2026 Save A by-election in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}