Keir Starmer has said the byelection in Gorton and Denton will be a referendum on “true patriotism” and that Labour is the only party that can defeat the “poisonous division” of Reform.
The prime minister, during his visit to Japan, said he saw the vote as a two-way contest between Labour and Reform UK, as he criticised Nigel Farage’s party.
Speaking on the same day that his party selected Angeliki Stogia, a Manchester city councillor, as its candidate in the byelection in the city, Starmer said: “It is very much and very clearly now a byelection between Labour and Reform on key principles.
“I see that Tommy Robinson has just come out in support of Matt Goodwin, the Reform candidate. That tells you everything about the politics they intend to inject into this byelection, the politics of poisonous division, so we can see exactly where that’s going.
“So we are the only contender. So it’s Labour versus Reform, and we will fight for renewal, for inclusive communities and bringing people together, and for true patriotism against the plastic patriotism of Reform. But only Labour can beat Reform, and therefore it’s the only way to win this byelection.”
The prime minister did not say whether he would be campaigning in the seat. Labour is vying with the Green party to attract progressive votes to beat Reform.
The Greens selected Hannah Spencer, a Manchester plumber who is a councillor in Trafford, on Friday. The party’s leader, Zack Polanski, was campaigning in Levenshulme, in the south of the constituency, on Saturday.
In a post on Facebook, Polanski said: “What a turning point we can make happen for our country!”
Reform has selected Goodwin, a former academic who is now a hard-right activist and GB News presenter.
On Saturday Stogia was chosen to fight the seat for Labour after a hustings event and vote by local members at the Jain community centre in Levenshulme.
Stogia beat Eamonn O’Brien, the leader of Bury council in Greater Manchester, who had been said to be the favourite of No 10. Labour insiders said the contest was closely fought, but Stogia was seen as the more local candidate. She is a ward councillor in nearby Whalley Range, also in south Manchester.
Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that my good friend Angeliki Stogia has been selected as Labour’s candidate today. She’s a local girl, she’s Mancunian, she’s up for it.
“She’s been delivering for people in this area for a long time, and that’s what we’re going to be going out on the doorsteps to say to people.”
Stogia said she was “absolutely thrilled and excited” to have been chosen as Labour’s candidate.
“I am a proud Mancunian woman,” she said. “I have walked the streets of this constituency. This is about Manchester. Manchester is a city united, we are rejecting division. I am so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning this for Labour.
“I am so excited that I got selected, and I am raring to go,” she added. “We’ve got a right fight on our hands, but we’ve got the people with us, and we will win this.”
The byelection was triggered by the resignation of the former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne because of ill health.
Gwynne remains under a parliamentary standards investigation into a scandal involving a WhatsApp group, called Trigger Me Timbers, that shared inflammatory comments about constituents, local party members and other MPs, which led to him being suspended by Labour.
Powell told activists that the Labour brand is resilient, and mentioned Andy Burnham, the mayor of the region who was turned down to be a candidate.
She said: “The Greens aren’t being entirely straight with people about this. They’ve got no councillors in this constituency at all, they’ve got no real base here at all.
“You might look at the national polls, but here in Manchester, the Labour brand is particularly strong and resilient, and in Denton as well, because of what Andy [Burnham]’s been doing, with better buses, more housing, more skills, opportunities for people. But also we’ve got a really good Labour council here.
“So we’ve got a very strong, resilient brand and we’ve spoken to over 15,000 people in a week,” she added. “We know that this race is between us and Reform. The Greens aren’t really in this race at all, and they’re not being straight with people about that.”
Labour’s chief whip, Jonathan Reynolds, said there was “no complacency” about the scale of the challenge, and that the party was ready to defend the seat.
He said: “It is definitely a Reform-Labour head-to-head. I don’t say that to disrespect any other political party, but I think the sense is, had the Greens really thought they were in it, Polanski would have been the candidate.”
Labour’s candidate selection came amid a high-profile row after Burnham, who wanted to surrender the mayoralty of Greater Manchester to contest the seat for Labour, was denied the chance by the national executive committee.
The briefing war has continued, with a cabinet member telling the Times: “He’s been handed everything on a plate for his whole career. He’s now angry because people won’t make way for his second coming. It’s typical Andy.”
The latest remarks prompted the mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, to defend Burnham, saying: “These gutless people hide behind the cloak of anonymity, just like the keyboard warriors they rail against. These anonymous attacks help nobody but our opponents. For the sake of our party, please, just stop.”
On Saturday night, Burnham congratulated Stogia and said she would do “a great job”. He added: “I will be there for you whenever you need me.”
