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Manchester has always been a place shaped by solidarity, by the belief that what you contribute matters more than where you come from, and by a quiet but unshakeable pride in looking out for one another. Some people are born here, others are drawn here, but, after more than 30 years of calling Manchester home, I know its character is defined by fairness, inclusivity and a determination to get on together.
That is the Manchester I know and loveand it is that Manchester that is on the ballot in the upcoming Gorton and Denton byelection.
Because beneath the noise, the speculation and the social media spin, this contest has become something very clear: a straight fight between Labour and Reform.
On the doorstep, the picture is unmistakable. Labour has built a field operation like no other. Since the campaign began, our volunteers and members have knocked on more than 60,000 doors and spoken directly to more than 30,000 voters. That is not guesswork or modelling, it is real conversations with real people about their lives, their concerns and their hopes for their communities.
That data tells us something important. However crowded the ballot paper may look, the decision facing voters in Gorton and Denton is not fragmented across multiple parties. It is a two-horse race between a Labour party rooted in Manchester’s values and a Reform campaign built on grievance and division.
Others know this too. The Greens continue to talk up their chances, but their actions tell a different story. Their candidate, Hannah Spencer, while pretending she cares about this constituency, is simultaneously contesting local elections in a leafy suburb on the other side of the city.
Let’s talk about delivery: the Green candidate who leads their group in Trafford has failed to take action or make any difference on the very issues that she is running her campaign on in this election. Promises rather than delivery, that’s the reality of the Greens in power.
Yet their presence risks muddying the waters at a moment when clarity matters, because what Reform represents is fundamentally at odds with this city’s character.
The Reform candidate, Matthew Goodwin, has argued that you cannot truly be British if you are not white. That is not Manchester. This is a city built by generations of people who came here from across Britain and across the world, just like me, who have worked, contributed to our communities, raised families and helped shape the place we all call home.
He has suggested taxing women who do not have children and talked about giving young girls a “biological reality” check. That is not Manchester either. Our city’s strength comes from respecting people’s choices and treating women with dignity, not turning their lives into political talking points.
And then there is the small but telling detail that his election address lists Hertfordshire as its base. For a campaign that claims to speak for local people, it raises a simple question: whose community is this really about?
The risk here is not theoretical. Across the country, Reform has sought to capitalise on frustration and uncertainty by turning neighbour against neighbour and reducing complex challenges to slogans and scapegoats. Their politics thrives on the idea that Britain’s problems are caused by “them” rather than solved by working together.
Manchester has always rejected that approach. Time and again, our city has shown that its strength lies in unity, in resilience and in the belief that we go further when we stand together.
That is the choice facing voters in Gorton and Denton.
Labour’s campaign is grounded in the everyday concerns we hear on the doorstep: the cost of living, safe streets, decent housing, opportunities for young people and reliable public services. It is about practical change and long-term investment, not culture wars imported from elsewhere.
Most of all, it is about protecting the kind of city Manchester has always been – open, unapologetically confident and outward-looking.
Byelections can sometimes feel like sideshows, moments for protest votes or political experiments. This one is different. The result will send a message about the direction our communities want to take and the values we are prepared to defend.
The reality is simple. This is a straight contest between Labour and Reform. Every vote that fragments the opposition to Reform risks making it easier for divisive politics to gain ground in a city that has always stood against it.
Manchester deserves better than that. Our residents deserve better than that.
This city’s story has never been about fear or exclusion. It has been about solidarity, fairness and the belief that our diversity makes us richer, not weaker.
In Gorton and Denton, voters now have the chance to reaffirm those values. And in a race that has narrowed to a clear choice, the decision they make will matter not just for one constituency, but for the kind of Manchester we want to be.
