Key events
Labour is defending a 13,413-vote majority in Gorton and Denton, where nearly 80% of voters backed a party on the left at the 2024 election.
Angeliki Stogia, a councillor, was selected as the Labour candidate after Andy Burnham was prevented from standing.
The academic turned GB News presenter Matt Goodwin – who has faced criticism for his comments on women, Muslims and British citizenship – is standing for Reform UK.
Hannah Spencer, a Trafford councillor and plumber by trade, is the Green party candidate.
Welcome
Welcome to our continuing coverage of the crucial Gorton and Denton byelection.
Counting is now underway in what is set to be a three-way contest for the seat in south-east Manchester after one of the most unpredictable byelections in years.
The Green party leader Zack Polanski said before voting that his party was “neck and neck” with Reform UK to overturn Labour’s 13,000-vote majority, and that Labour will need to “search their conscience” if Reform UK wins.
Keir Starmer’s party had targeted left-leaning voters in the Greater Manchester seat with claims that only Labour can see off Nigel Farage’s Reform, saying that a vote for the Greens was “in effect, a vote for Reform”.
A Labour defeat in the party’s long-time stronghold would be a major blow to Keir Starmer’s leadership.
The byelection was triggered by the resignation of Andrew Gwynne on health grounds in January. The former MP was under investigation by parliament for offensive messages he sent in a WhatsApp group of local Labour figures.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest…