Angeliki Stogia called out the politics offered by Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin, and vowed to fight for her city ahead of voters going to the polls in Gorton and Denton
A crunch by-election next week is a fight between Reform’s divisive politics and keeping Manchester united, Labour’s candidate says.
Angeliki Stogia called out the politics offered by Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin, and vowed to fight for her city ahead of voters going to the polls in Gorton and Denton on Thursday.
The Mirror joined Ms Stogia as she campaigned on Friday, meeting voters, riding a bike that powered a blender so she could hand out fresh juice. She said: “We have had tens of thousands of conversations in the last few weeks and things are looking positive.”
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And speaking of voters’ choice on February 26, she added: “This is about shouting from the sidelines and divisive politics or it’s about unity and keeping our city united.” Ms Stogia mocked her Reform rival at a recent hustings, saying: “Welcome to Manchester.”
She explained: “I don’t think he understands anything about this constituency, I think he was rattled, he was late, he had satnav, he had two security, and he still came late.” There were also harsh words for Green candidate Hannah Spencer, after her party’s leaflet calling for Labour to be “punished for Gaza”.
Ms Stogia, who also helped out on a free farmers’ market run by charity FareShare, said: “Dividing communities on the doorstep here in Manchester is not going to change things in Gaza.” Labour’s Deputy Leader Lucy Powell says only Labour has enough support to stop Reform but the party has a fight on its hands.
The Manchester Central MP said: “With Reform standing, the nature of their candidate, it’s been really galvanising really for a lot of our activists, our supporters, and our voters as well. Whilst people have got their frustrations and the things they want to talk to you about in regards to Labour and the government, they’re pretty focused on wanting to stop Reform.”
Ms Powell also hailed Mr Burnham, with the Greater Manchester Mayor helping drive support. She said: “We do have a particularly strong Labour brand in Manchester and Greater Manchester, the Andy effect, if you like, and on the Manchester side, a very good Labour council. Andy has played a leading role in the campaign and that’s been really good as well”.
It won 50.8% of the vote here in 2024, but the party’s fortunes have turned nationally since then. Labour believe 25-30% of voters are currently unsure, and are doing everything they can to win them over. This includes inviting floating voters to events with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Ms Stogia, to discuss concerns. When we met voters, Abundance Ibekwe, who works in data, said he would vote Labour but that they must help immigrants more.
The 31-year-old said: “They are a bit tough on us, I’m an immigrant, and I’m not illegal in this country, and I’ve been working so hard, paying my taxes, and I don’t know why they are hitting us so hard. We hear ‘immigrant this and immigrant that’, I think Labour are doing a good job but they need to be a bit more relaxed.”
Mr Ibekwe, who came to the UK from Nigeria, said housing and crime were the two biggest issues for the area. He said: “I had thought the UK was a very safe country, but sometimes I’m scared. The other thing is housing, rent prices. I am working so hard to make a living, but it’s so hard.”
Sam Cooke, CEO of Tameside Arts Ltd, declined to say how she would vote. But she said: “There is great scope to have more activities for the community right outside our doorstep. What we need is the backing of our local council to do that. It’s about working in partnership with your constituents.”
Ms Cooke said the focus should be on helping minorities, those with disabilities, and people on low incomes or struggling with bills. John Simpson, retired, said he was backing Labour after years of Tory chaos. He said: “I am supporting Labour because I think they’re in at the moment, we don’t need any more changes, we had plenty of changes over the Conservative era. We don’t need to change Prime Minister, we had four or five and you just lost count of how many Conservative Prime Ministers there were. “They don’t get everything right, Labour, but then nobody would.”
He also gave thinly veiled barb at Reform’s Matt Goodwin, who has been backed by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and has said: “It takes more than a piece of paper to make somebody British.” Mr Simpson said: “They need an MP that’s local, not someone that has been parachuted in from GB News.”
David Lloyd-Jones, 44 told The Mirror he would not vote for anyone, complaining of a “failed system”. But he added of Reform UK’s leader Nigel: “I’d rather throw my vote on one of them than let Farage inch their way forward eventually. Farage, I feel, is one of those fake friends, who tells the people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.”