Labour’s promise to run a positive byelection campaign in Gorton and Denton is already running aground after it accused the Green party leader in England and Wales of being cowardly for not standing in the seat.
Anna Turley, the Labour party’s chair, told The Observer the decision not to deploy Zack Polanski, born in nearby Salford, showed Greens did not “have the confidence to do so”.
She added: “It sends a strong message that they think they are in third place… That is the reality – a Green vote is a wasted vote.”
One Labour source went further: “It’s obvious Zack Polanski bottled it because the Greens don’t have a chance. He’d have loved the profile boost from being an MP, but knows their campaign is a write-off,” they said.
A spokesman for Polanski hit back, accusing Labour of “patronising” the Greens’ “stardust” candidate Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber who leads the party on Trafford council.
“We don’t parachute people from hundreds of miles away – we believe in grassroots democracy,” the spokesman said. “Zack’s waiting for the byelection in Holborn and St Pancras, which we expect to take place later this year.”
Turley was speaking after Angeliki Stogia had been announced as Labour’s candidate for the Gorton and Denton seat. The Labour chair said Stogia, a Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range since 2012, was “a strong woman representing a strong community”.
When asked about the fallout from the row over Andy Burnham, who was blocked by Labour from standing in the election, Turley stressed that the Greater Manchester mayor would spend Sunday campaigning with Stogia.
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“People are looking for someone who is going to be a real grassroots activist and campaigner, and we are really focusing on a message of unity and rejecting division,” she said.
Gorton and Denton is traditionally a Labour safe seat but dire recent approval ratings for Keir Starmer and the party mean it has its work cut out.
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As well as Reform UK and the Greens, Ben Habib’s Advance UK and George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain are among others vying for the seat.
One Labour MP said the party was “trialling the Caerphilly strategy”, referring to Plaid Cymru’s successful byelection campaign in October. The MP acknowledged there was no guarantee this would work.
Turley has already written to Matthew Goodwin, Reform’s candidate in the constituency, asking if he will distance himself from an endorsement from far-right agitator Tommy Robinson.A spokesman for Goodwin said: “Nigel has been clear many times that [Robinson] isn’t welcome in the party. All Matt cares about is getting the endorsement from the people of Gorton and Denton.”
Photograph by Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images