Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has brutally mocked Lee Anderson after Reform UK appeared to share photos of activists campaigning ahead of the Gorton & Denton by-election.
Dozens of activists were photographed outside the Stanley House Function Rooms, which is located in the neighbouring constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne.
Mr Anderson wrote: “Gorton & Denton. A cold but productive day in what will be a hotly contested seat. Reform UK fear no party. Bring it on.”
After spotting the by-election blunder, Ms Rayner told The Mirror: “Farage’s Reform can’t even find the Gorton & Denton constituency on a map.
“Perhaps it’s because they’re too busy filling their party full of former Tories who failed the country.
“Local residents in Gorton and Denton deserve a local MP who is focused on delivering on local residents’ priorities like tackling the cost of living.
“That’s what Labour will be speaking to voters about every day on streets across Gorton and Denton while Farage gets round to finally learning how to use Google maps and actually work out where they live.”
Reform UK’s Chief Whip shared photos of the activists campaigning on Saturday.
Angela Rayner took aim at Reform UK after the by-election blunder
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HOUSE OF COMMONSHowever, the location the photos were taken is around a third of a mile outside the Gorton & Denton constituency.
Ms Rayner, who resigned as Deputy Prime Minister after failing to pay enough tax on her £800,000 flat some 260 miles away from her constituency in Hove, made the jibe after Reform UK unveiled ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman as the fifth former Tory MP to switch to Nigel Farage’s party.
Despite mostly attracting support from former Tories, Reform UK is expected to unveil a “big name” candidate to contest the once-safe Labour seat.
Voters in Gorton & Denton will go to the polls on February 29, following the resignation of ex-Health Minister Andrew Gwynne last week.
Lee Anderson shared photos of Reform activists campaigning in Greater Manchester over the weekend
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X/LEE ANDERSON
Mr Gwynne, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2005, resigned over health concerns after being suspended from the Labour Party over his involvement in a WhatsApp group called ‘Trigger Me Timbers’.
Announcing his resignation, Mr Gwynne said: “It has been the honour of my life to have been an elected representative for almost exactly three decades, representing my home community firstly as a Denton West Councillor on Tameside Council and then in the House of Commons as MP for Denton and Reddish and more recently for Gorton and Denton.”
However, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s potential candidacy in the by-election has led the coverage since Mr Gwynne’s departure, with Labour’s NEC blocking the former Leigh MP from contesting the seat.
“Realistically, we know that we’re going to lose,” a senior Government source told The Times.
Dozens of activists were photographed outside the Stanley House Function Rooms, which are located in the neighbouring constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne
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X/LEE ANDERSON
“But it was a question of what was worse: losing a by-election or losing control of Greater Manchester, which would have been a total disaster.”
Gorton & Denton now looks poised to deal Sir Keir a bloody nose less than 12 months after Labour lost Runcorn & Helsby to Reform UK.
However, another Labour source insisted Sir Keir is “not writing the seat off” and needed to be “quick out of the blocks” to position Labour as the principal challenger to Reform.
Mr Gwynne, who first won the Manchester constituency in 2005, was returned as the MP for Denton & Gorton with a majority of 13,413 votes in 2024.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer alongside his former deputy leader Angela Rayner
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PAReform UK is now hoping to pull off a Runcorn-style victory in the once-safe Labour seat, chasing down Labour’s tally after finishing second in 2024.
The Green Party is also expected to put up a tough fight in the constituency, with the race quickly being considered a three-way split.
“What we know is that this is a younger-than-average demographic in this constituency, it’s got a higher-than-average number of Muslim votes, particularly Pakistani-origin families,” a Green Party insider told The Times.
GB News has approached Reform UK for comment.