Green leader Zack Polanski has challenged Nigel Farage to a face-to-face debate as the Gorton and Denton by-election heats up.
Reform UK had suggested that the Green leader should go up against its head of policy Zia Yusuf in a live grilling as both parties seek to woo voters in the constituency which has a large Muslim population in parts of it.
In a letter to Mr Polanski, Mr Yusuf tore the Greens over immigration, tax, Britain’s nuclear deterrent and property ownership.
But Mr Polanski messaged back on X: “As I keep saying, I would be more than happy to debate, leader to leader, with Nigel Farage.
“I'm starting to get the impression he might not be keen?”
As the parties are drawing up their battle lines for the by-election on February 26, the Greens got an early boost when George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain decided not to run.
Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, told BBC radio: “Labour lost ground very, very heavily among Muslim voters in the 2024 election.
“This is a community to which the Greens have demonstrated an ability to appeal in the past.
“In one potentially crucial development, the Workers Party, George Galloway’s party which is very much a party that appeals to the Muslim community and got 10% of the vote in the constituency in 2024...it has announced according to its Twitter account that it is not standing.
“That, together with the fact that Jeremy Corbyn’s party is saying it’s not standing, and a crucial pressure group called the Muslim vote has also backed the Green candidate, you can see how in one part of the constituency, Labour do face a challenge from Reform and in the other part from the Greens.”
The leading polling expert believes the by-election could be won on a relatively low share of the vote and by a quite small majority.
He added that there was “mixed” polling evidence over whether Sir Keir Starmer’s party was best placed to defeat Reform and if it could “connect” with Muslim voters who are “inclined” to vote Green and with middle-class professionals “unhappy with Labour”.
It was not clear yet if the argument of “vote for us” to stop Reform would be “sufficient motivation” to squeeze the Green vote, he explained, or whether the latter emerges ahead in early polling which could see Labour pushed into third place.
Earlier, Mr Polanski said he wanted to be a London MP as he sought to explain why he is not standing as the party’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
But Labour accused him of “chickening out” of being the Green contender in the crunch by-election on the grounds that his party did not believe it could win.
Mr Polanski rejected the claim and argued that there were “just days to stop Reform” winning the seat.
Labour and the Greens are locked in a fierce battle over which party can quickly drum up the most support in Gorton and Denton to defeat Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
If one of them can show it is the frontrunner, that may encourage tactical voting for that party.
But if the vote for parties on the Left is evenly split, it could make it easier for Reform to win.
Mr Polanski insisted that he is not standing for the Green Party in the Greater Manchester by-election because his party believes in “nurturing local talent”.
The Green Party leader, who was born and brought up in Salford, Greater Manchester, suggested it would be wrong for him to stand in the by-election as he has lived in London for “about 20 years”.
However, Mr Polanski, a member of the London Assembly, stressed that he would “absolutely be going for” a parliamentary seat in the capital when one comes up.
“I live in London,” he told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
“I’m a Mancunian. I’ve been in London for about 20 years, and the Green Party really believes in nurturing local talent and really lifting up someone from the community.
“When a seat comes up in London, I’ll absolutely be going for it.”
But a Labour spokesperson said: “If Zack Polanski thought the Greens had a chance in Gorton and Denton he wouldn’t have chickened out standing himself.”
But Mr Polanski said the Greens had put up 1,000 posters in Manchester in one day for the by-election given the scale of support for the party that they had detected.
Labour, Reform and the Greens are pouring resources into trying to win the seat.
Mr Polanski has unveiled councillor Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber, as the Green Party’s candidate for the Greater Manchester constituency.
Labour announced on Saturday its candidate is Angeliki Stogia, a Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range.
Reform’s candidate is GB News presenter and former academic Matt Goodwin.
The by-election was triggered after Andrew Gwynne, who was sacked as a minister and suspended from the Labour Party last year over offensive messages in a WhatsApp group, resigned as an MP on health grounds.
At the general election in July 2024, Labour won the seatwith more than half the vote, 18,555, with Reform UK coming second on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens at 4,810.
But Labour’s popularity has since nosedived, hitting record lows, including in London.
The party has also been embroiled in a furious row over the decision by Labour chiefs to block Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from being its candidate.
Mr Burnham has criticised Sir Keir’s government and has made no secret of his desire to be Labour leader, and Prime Minister.
With Sir Keir’s ratings as PM having also plummeted, other parties will be quick to highlight if he does not campaign in the constituency.
