Labour MPs are having their heads turned by Zack Polanski now the polls show the Greens are taking chunks out of the Labour vote. The Telegraph reports “at least one” Labour MP was approached by the whips on suspicion of defecting, with a ‘Green Party source’ taking real pleasure in milking the moment. Although they say “nothing concrete” has come from informal discussions…
One of the names that did the rounds recently was Dawn Butler. She insisted it was “untrue” when Guido put it to her. Still, plenty of Labour MPs will be glancing across the aisle feeling green with envy after Gorton and Denton taught them there’s no such thing as a Labour safe seat…
Those who defect should once again expect to field questions about the ghost of Christmas past in Jeremy Corbyn. Polanksi explained to the House magazine yesterday why he no longer criticises Jezza for antisemitism, despite saying he couldn’t vote for Corbyn in 2018:
“Since then, we’ve had a book by Paul Holden, The Fraud, which I think has laid out the cynical and systemic deliberate obfuscation of a really serious issue like antisemitism. I believe that I believed what I was reading and what I was seeing…”
A well-trodden path for a few Labour backbenchers…
Predictions for the next election are beginning to appear. It’s that time of the cycle…
Reform’s Robert Jenrick predicts a Labour-Green pact off the back of this morning’s devastating poll. Speaking to Sky News:
“I do think that British politics is shaping up to be a choice at the next general election between Nigel Farage and Reform on the one hand and a coalition of the left on the other. Keir Starmer or whoever replaces him in coalition with Zack Polanski and most people I think you know sensible, decent, hard working people watching this programme would not want to see that. If you think this government is chaotic and weak and harmful to the economy, just imagine what that would be like.”
Don’t leave Ed Davey out of the mix…
YouGov’s latest poll with the Times and Sky News has the Greens ahead of Labour for the first time. With fieldwork on Sunday and Monday the pollster says the result is “obviously likely driven to a significant extent by the publicity from the Denton & Gorton by-election, as well as any impact it has from the Greens appearing a more viable option and less of a wasted vote.” Four points up…
This is the highest score obtained by Polanski’s party with YouGov. Labour and the Tories sitting jointly on only 16 points is a thing to behold…
The Green Party’s Hannah Spencer won by quite some margin in the Gorton and Denton by-election yesterday. Labour came third behind Reform. The Tories lost their deposit…
There was a 47.50% turnout. The results:
Labour had not lost an election in the area since 1931 until last night, near halving their 50.8% of the vote in 2024. That is Labour’s 13th highest fall in support in a by-election. Polling guru John Curtice told BBC Breakfast:
“The nervousness that already existed inside the Labor Party about Keir Starmer’s ability to turn around his party’s electoral fortunes, that nervousness is now going to be heightened. Not that there will be any move against the Prime Minister before May the 7th, but his chances of surviving after May the 7th if the results are bad, have, I think, been diminished.”
Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell has already had to insist that “Keir is the right person for the job” this morning. The unions are starting to turn on Starmer, with general secretary of Unison Andrea Egan saying: “Under Keir Starmer the party is failing on every count, leaving the Greens to fill the vacuum.” Meanwhile, Reform’s Matt Goodwin said after his loss:
“A dangerous Muslim sectarianism has emerged. We have only one general election left to save Britain. Vote Reform every chance you get. I will continue the fight. I will always fight for you. I will stand at the next general election.”
Zack Polanski said after his party’s victory:
“This used to be one of Labour’s safest seats. The Green party saw a record-breaking swing in our direction and more than tripled our vote…Many ex-Labour voters told our canvassers that they will never go back to a party that supports genocide, fuels racism, and has failed to deliver on its promise to improve life for people across the country.”
Clock is ticking for Starmer…
The Green Party’s aggressive sectarian campaigning in Gorton & Denton is curious considering the party’s very much non-conservative policy on contentious faith issues. E.g. abolishing all faith schools…
Their policy on faith schools, uncovered on the members area on the Party’s own website, states that “no publicly-funded school shall be run by a religious organisation.” This would mean a radical move to end all taxpayer funding for faith schools…
In 2024/25 there were 6,781 state funded faith schools in England – 34% of all state schools. This includes ones from religious groups including Church of England, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu. The Greens’ faith-mixing policy includes plans to “facilitate the children mixing with other local schools.” Deliberately allocating school places to children in schools that are farther away in order to ensure schools are “diverse”…
The policy comes from the Green Party charter, which is continuously revised. Policies passed by conference are adopted as party policy until rescinded. These are currently included in the Green Party’s library of “Policies for a Sustainable Society.” The official position on that is: “The Green Party’s Policies for a Sustainable Society (PSS) represents the policy foundation which the Party stands upon.”
The Greens have always been controversial for the forced progressivism of their education policy. In 2016, the Scottish Greens were attacked for proposing to close Catholic schools across Scotland. How will their official policy against faith schools go down with conservative Muslim voters in Gorton and Denton?
Green activists are promoting an online article suggesting Muslims should vote for the Green Party to forward the “interests and values” of British Muslims. Labour won’t be happy…
A piece on website Islam 21C by ‘jurist’ Shaykh Dr. Haitham al-Haddad asks if “Labour really deserve Muslim support” after having “contributed to the hostile environment against British Muslims” and adds: “the large number of Muslim voters in Gorton and Denton have a unique opportunity to make a powerful impact by taking part in this election.” And surprise – you have to vote for the Greens…
“A Green victory in Gorton and Denton could force Labour to take more positive steps that match with the interests and values of people of conscience nationwide, including British Muslims, and disempower the growing far right.”
The piece has some passages dedicated to coax conservative Muslims into voting for a party with otherwise ‘progressive’ views because votes “impact Muslims globally“:
“We should also remember that Muslims are not supposed to act on their whims and desires, but rather on the basis of our Islamic principles. We need to think not only about which candidates will meet our local concerns like protecting the NHS, making housing and living more affordable, and improving community safety, but also look at the bigger picture. We have to ask ourselves, how the way we vote can impact Muslims globally. After all, we have a moral responsibility to these brothers and sisters as well.
The point here is that even though we may not always feel comfortable with some of the social values that British political parties and candidates align with, these issues can be overlooked in pursuit of more urgent matters, for instance, protecting our brothers and sisters facing genocide in Gaza, or at the very least reducing harm against them.
Against this backdrop, the Muslim voters in Gorton and Denton are front and centre in this national conversation. It is as if Allah has favoured these brothers and sisters with the ability to make a decision that could help decide the whole country’s long-term future.”
The piece has been shared by a Green Muslim organiser to activists, who says a Green organiser contributed to it and “it makes a quite compelling case to vote Green in the constituency from an Islamic perspective.“ Balkanised…
Since Guido revealed the Greens were sharing a video entirely in Urdu on Monday Labour has accused the party of “manipulating” Muslim voters. Deputy Leader Lucy Powell said the party was guilty of “a shameful attempt to manipulate the respected Muslim community.” Campaigning reaching a frenzy in the last two days…
Lee Anderson, speaking to The Sun’s Tom Scotson, reveals the wokest thing he’s ever done: “I once had a vegetarian thought, about becoming a vegetarian. That was quickly dismissed when I had a bacon sandwich…”