Nigel Farage wants a major crackdown on postal voting after the Green Party romped to victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Matt Goodwin was Reform UK’s candidate for the seat but fell short in his bid to become an MP as Hannah Spencer of the Green Party secured a comfortable victory.
Mr Farage has been quick to blame “sectarian politics” and has also pointed to an alarmingly high level of what he terms “family voting”, where relatives are pressuring each other at the ballot box to cast their vote a certain way.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, has branded the Reform leader a “sore loser” in a fiery response to the claims.
Taking to X, Mr Farage demanded a major change to the voting system so ‘family voting’ is not possible.
“The Gorton and Denton by-election is a victory for cheating in elections”, he said.
“Back in 2015, there was a by-election in Oldham and I called it bent and corrupt because of the way postal votes were being corralled by the Muslim community.
“The same happened again in Peterborough in 2019, and you know, I even fought a court case against what I saw when somebody turned up with a supermarket bag with 1,000 postal votes in it.
Nigel Farage has cried foul play after the Greens romped to victory
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“In some ways, I have been on my own in trying to catch out fraud in politics. But, last night, at the close of play, a very reputable organisation called Democracy of Volunteers said, in 12 per cent of voting cases they witnessed family voting. That means a husband and wife, or more, going into the polling station and effectively watching how the other member of the family votes.
“This is illegal under the law, and it appears the council did not do anything about it.
“Now there’s a debate about fraud in voting. That’s a good thing. Postal voting is being abused massively in this country.
“We need to get rid of the list. The only people who should be able to vote by post are those who are elderly, in firm or living or working abroad. That has got to be done.”
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Zack Polanski says the Green Party's win 'sends a message of hope' to the country
| GB NEWSDespite Reform UK finishing second, Mr Farage said he was pleased with the result.
The Reform UK leader said that while his party was able to gather a strong share of votes, there is now a clear rise of hard-left politics in Britain, and its impact is already being felt.
“[Keir] Starmer has a massive problem. He is on the way out. He won’t survive long beyond May 7 because the momentum on the left is moving towards the Greens”, he said.
“There’s a resurgent hard-left working now with sectarian politics, and the Churchill statue has now been vandalised in London.
Mr Farage reacted in a video he posted to X
|X / NIGEL FARAGE
“It calls him a zionist and says ‘globalise the intifada’. We are in very, very big trouble.”
Ms Spencer won with a majority of 4,402 votes to become the Green Party’s fifth MP.
Sir Keir Starmer is now under intense pressure with Labour MPs, unions and campaign groups demanding a change of course ahead of crucial local elections in May.
Former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the result should be a “wake-up call” for the party, calling for her colleagues to “be braver” and “rededicate” themselves to “a Labour agenda that puts people first”.
The Prime Minister has also faced criticism for the decision to block potential leadership rival Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, from standing in Gorton and Denton.
Other union leaders demanded a change of course from Sir Keir.
Sharon Graham of Unite said: “If Labour needed any further wake-up calls, this is clearly one. Labour need to now ditch the gimmicks and get back to being Labour – not new, not one that plays games, but real Labour.”
Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright said: “Labour’s entire strategy of framing politics as ‘it’s us v Reform’ is in tatters after its very first electoral test.
“If the Government does not change course immediately, it will face heavy losses in the May elections, and at that point the political consequences for Keir Starmer will become unavoidable.”
The Mainstream Labour group, which is backed by Mr Burnham, said it was a “catastrophic error” to block the Greater Manchester mayor from standing in Gorton and Denton as he was “the one candidate who could have won it for us”.
Calling for an “immediate and fundamental reset”, the group said: “The Gorton and Denton result is an absolute disaster for Labour. Clearly, we now risk no longer being seen as the natural home for progressive voters.”