We asked the candidates – the Gorton and Denton by-election

After the MP for Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester stepped back for health reasons, a by-election was called for 26 February 2026. Eleven parties put forward a candidate: 

Advance UK – Nick Buckley

Communist League – Hugo Wils

Conservative and Unionist Party – Charlotte Cadden

Green Party – Hannah Spencer

Labour Party – Angeliki Stogia

Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey

Libertarian Party – Dan Clark

Official Monster Raving Loony Party – Lord Oink-a-lot

Reform UK – Matt Goodwin

Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair

Social Democratic Party – Sebastian Moore

North West Bylines send out emails to all candidates where we could find an email address for them, and in the rest of the cases to the party, asking if we could have answers to the ten questions we put to them. 

We gave them 10 working days to reply. In those ten days, we received five replies. We have been promised a reply from the Green Party candidate which will be added when we receive it. Five parties or candidates must not have seen the emails or did not feel the need to share their ideas with us, or to give us the chance to show prospective voters of the differences between the candidates. 

The replies came from: Advance UK – Nick Buckley; Communist League – Hugo Wils; Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey; Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke, Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair. 

1. How would you describe the character of Gorton & Denton? 

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: It is a working-class area. A typical inner-city urban environment with proud people who love their country. Unfortunately, they are frustrated, unhappy and angry – and rightly so. Decades of neglect and years of being told they are the problem.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: Like in many working-class areas you can see the devastation. I used to work at a meat factory in nearby Dukinfield where 500 workers lost their jobs, one of many such places. Why is it that skyscrapers are mushrooming across central Manchester whilst there is little new social housing in Gorton and Denton. I would say it is because housing is a commodity under capitalism, something to make profits out of.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer Gorton and Denton is a beautifully diverse constituency that has been let down for too long. It was living in this constituency that shaped me politically, and working here has opened my eyes to how much we need to fix. This is a place with so much potential that can only be harnessed if we challenge the political system, and that starts with electing a Green MP.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: First and foremost, I would describe it as home. I love living here, the diversity of the people living in the area alongside a lot of heritage and pride in our communities. It is both Inner City and yet has a range of green open spaces, it has many types of places to eat and strong community bonds.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke I would describe the character of Gorton & Denton as being a well diverse area, with a strong sense of community. In a way I would say that its character is like a Kaleidoscope, due to its mixture of multicultural communities, student population and working families.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: I would characterise the constituency as a hybrid of northern town and urban/suburban district of a major city, currently struggling to define and assert its identity between these two realities.

2. What do you think Gorton and Denton need specifically, and how will you try to achieve that?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: It needs the basic services of the state to be done competently. Safer Streets & Clean Streets. That is not too much to ask. I do not promise a future I cannot deliver, I promise to start to fix the basics – because someone has to.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: Our biggest challenge is that, as working people, we underestimate our power to fight for change. Learning from our history and extending solidarity to those who fight is crucial in this respect. I would give a platform to union and social fights that can strengthen our confidence and unity.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer What Gorton and Denton needs is a local representative who fights for the community. We have had nearly 20,000 conversations with residents during this campaign, and they have raised a host of local issues. As your MP I will continue to engage with residents, fight for safer streets, back local businesses, tackle congestion, improve our community spaces and more.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: Investment in jobs and training. We need to invest in existing housing stock as well as building new stock. In addition we need to look at the impact of too many residents renting off buy to let landlords, where the mortgage companies insist on six month tenancies. This is causing problems in local schools and damaging community cohesion.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke Gorton and Denton needs change. For 90 years Labour have done nothing positive. I want to bring positive change. Investment and jobs are much needed in the constituency.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: Renewal requires a clear plan that addresses demographic change. I would propose twinning local projects with comparable initiatives across Europe. We must avoid allowing the constituency to become a place where government services are delivered by people who live elsewhere to people who live here.
  

3. What will you do to tackle economic and health inequality in Gorton and Denton?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: No MP can promise such things; only governments and councils can – and then fail to deliver. Remember the Northern Powerhouse? Big promises from potential MPs are simply polite lies.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: The root of our problems is the capitalist system. We need to build a working-class movement of millions that can lead workers to take state political power. Without that any concessions we win, like healthcare, are constantly eroded. Just as housing, healthcare is a commodity for capitalist profits not social needs.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer I will be a tireless champion for the people of Gorton and Denton in Parliament. I’ll fight for rent controls to tackle greedy landlords; a tax system that serves the working class instead of billionaires; properly funded public services; an NHS that is free for all of us, works for all of us, and is accessible to all of us.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: Health – start by tackling pollution. The air pollution in this constituency is awful, I know I’ve measured it! Also the economy – properly take action to deal with poverty, investing in people and training and bringing jobs back to the area. We should start by repairing trade with Europe.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke We need to see much needed investment within the constituency. Labour have done nothing to encourage companies to invest, Green party will discourage investment unfortunately Reform are all noise and soundbites. Economic prosperity and improvements to health will only happen by voting Libertarian.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: The priority must be to generate internal energy and vibrancy within Gorton and Denton that is not dependent on the service‑provider/service‑recipient dynamic. The area should aim to attract high‑quality housing and retail development. Its proximity to Manchester city centre is an asset, and Gorton and Denton should be positioned to benefit from the city’s commercial success. Health inequality follows economic inequality; address the latter and the former will improve.

4. Will you follow the party whip all the time, even if it would be detrimental for your constituents?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: This is the question that NO career politician will answer truthfully. You are only selected to stand if you have shown that you will do as you are told. Trust NO politician, always be suspicious, and ensure you hold them to account.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: I would always seek to win [over] those who I represent to the political course of the Communist League. The fight to change class rule is also a fight to transform working people from objects to be regulated and administered under capitalism to subjects who themselves are centre stage. Working people in Gorton and Denton would be part of this.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer The Green Party does not have a whip! I will listen to my fellow Green Party members and have discussions with Green colleagues in parliament, but representing the needs and views of constituents will always be my number one priority.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: I cannot imagine deliberately voting against the direct interests of my constituents.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke The Libertarian party does not have a party whip. I will always act with the best interest of constituents. Tax cuts, freedom, individual responsibility, business investment, private investment into improvement of infrastructure and a regional health board to operate our health service in the area to improve health services.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: As the party’s sole MP, I would serve as my own whip.

5. As an MP you represent everyone in your constituency regardless of whether they voted for you or how well their backgrounds and lives align with yours. How do you approach working with people who are very different from you?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: This is easy to do when you accept that you are a public servant and not the ruler or dictator of a specific area. Public service has been my life, ranging from working with rough sleepers and drug addicts, to kids on the street and residents’ associations. 
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: The similarities between all working people is much greater than our differences. Through our common struggle and the solidarity that generates we overcome divisions. Central to this is fighting Jew hatred which rises from reactionary forces in times of crisis and is used to blind us from seeing our class enemy. From the pogroms under the Tsars to the Nazis and more recently the Hamas/Iran October 7 pogrom: Jew hatred is the banner of reaction.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer I am proud of the diversity of views and backgrounds in our city region and if voters choose to make me their MP on the 26th of February, I will represent all of them. I will always listen and ensure that all of our constituents’ voices are respected, because politics has shut too many of us out for too long.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: Several times over the years, I have campaigned with people who have very different views to my own on many issues. When campaigning on an issue, focus on what we have in common, not what divides.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke I believe in representing everyone regardless of how they voted. It is my duty as a public servant to represent and serve people regardless of how they voted. I will not treat anyone any differently based upon how they voted.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: This question relates primarily to those who voted to leave the European Union. I will, of course, represent all constituents equally. However, those who supported Leave will be persuaded only by visible, tangible success.

6. What is your and your party’s position on upgrading railway services and local transport links in the North of England? 

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: I take onboard that transport links across the North are poor and should have been addressed over many decades by many different governments. But currently, we have so many problems that transport does not make my list of priorities.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: All forms of transport need upgrading, like all other social needs, the trades unions need to fight for a programme of public works to build the transport, housing and health facilities we need. That can’t be just a wish though, it would take a massive fight by the unions. That fight could strengthen our class to overturn capitalist rule.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer The Green Party wants a fully nationalised transport system. Privatisation has failed. I support investment in, and expansion of, railways and local transport links everywhere, especially in the North of England. We need to see affordable and reliable buses, trams, and trains to address both the cost of living and the climate crises.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: Public transport is vital for our economy. It is ridiculous that endless money is pumped into transport in London whilst the North gets scraps. It is an issue I will campaign on if elected.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke I want to see greater transport connectivity of all forms, not just within the constituency but across the north. Our railways have not been adequately invested in for decades, rail fares in the UK as a whole are some of the highest in the developed world. The Libertarian Party is committed to implementing a policy that provides the lowest fares for all. We want to see high capacity adaptable transport systems such as high speed coach ways to be implemented.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: Traffic and transport across Greater Manchester remain a persistent frustration, with residents frequently stuck in long delays. Safe, affordable, and efficient public transport is the obvious solution. I strongly support improved transport links, provided local residents are not burdened with additional costs to fund the initial investment.

7. How do you intend on working with the Mayoral Team heading up GM?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: I intend to be a critical friend to the GM Mayor, for I struggle to see any benefits in nearly a decade of Labour Mayors. Rough sleeping is still a major problem, and knife crime is getting worse. Like all politicians, our current Mayor lacks scrutiny – I shall fill that gap.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: I would mainly look to the unions to fight to secure our needs. Rather than a focus on lobbying and dependence on parliamentary parties and councils, the unions need to make a political break from that, relying on the solidarity and power of our class. I opened my campaign by taking solidarity to the Birmingham bin strike pickets. Their fight is in the interest of all council workers.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer I will work constructively with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Mayoral Team, but I will also work my socks off to hold them to account. Having a tenacious Green fighting for a better NHS, cleaner streets and a more affordable city will make the Labour Mayor, and councils, sit up and take notice.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: I intend to work with people in power at all levels to improve lives in Gorton and Denton.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke I think it is important to work with the Mayor of GM and build a relationship based upon mutual respect. To make sure that Gorton and Denton gets treated the same way as other areas of GM and do what is needed to improve living standards.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: If invited, I will join.

8. Is there or are there any special law(s) that you would like to propose in Parliament?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: I would like a new law that holds top civil servants (council, police, NHS, etc.) to account for their performance and spending our taxes. None of our public services are fit for purpose, and the people who need them the most suffer.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: An amnesty for immigrant workers in this country to unify the working class, so that the bosses can no longer use immigrants to erode pay, conditions and we can fight together – without fear – to get what we need.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer A bill to tackle tool theft! I know how much small businesses are struggling because I have run my own for years. One example hitting small businesses and tradespeople hard is tool theft; Labour rolled back on their commitments to introduce legislation that would address this, and I think that’s unacceptable.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: As I have worked in IT for many years, I particularly wish to keep an eye on individual privacy, online safety and data protection and bring in laws appropriate at the time.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke If I had to pick one law that I would like to propose to parliament, that would be to have a written constitution for Britain. A constitution that holds the individual over the government, a constitution that best preserves the liberty of the people.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: Absolutely: the UK should begin accession talks with the European Union immediately, followed by a referendum on rejoining.

9. What motivated you to go into politics, and what would you most want to achieve as an MP before the next election?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: I have spent decades fixing social problems across Greater Manchester, including tackling youth-related antisocial behaviour in Gorton & Denton. I eventually realised that we never truly fix our problems because of the system, political convenience and general incompetence – someone has to get their hands dirty and change this.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: My politics are about the power of working people to make a revolution. I learnt about Cuba’s socialist revolution through the Militant newspaper that I now write for and distribute. The Cuban revolution was achieved through having a leadership that had confidence in working people and a determination to win.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer I was motivated to go into politics because our political system needs the voices of more working-class people like me, especially from jobs like mine. If elected, I will push open the doors of parliament and hold them open for more working class people to have their voices heard alongside me.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: I wish to see a fairer, stable society where the laws are applied fairly to all. Events in the 1980s showed me that the Liberal Democrats had the best platform for that. As for motivation, I feel a duty to do the work of making things better, which is what I did as a Councillor for 21 years here.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke I have always had an interest in politics. The thing that really got me to become active in politics is that I remember voting in my first ever election and saw that there was no one that actually represented me or my views. I felt that candidates at both local elections and parliamentary level were nothing more than career politicians, and not like myself who actually wants to do good in society.
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: The defining issue is the disaster of Brexit. I want a referendum on rejoining within this Parliament.

10. If you had to pick one most urgent national priority for which you are prepared to fight in Westminster, what would it be?

• Advance UK – Nick Buckley: Close our borders. A country is not a country without borders, and I see no signs that our country has any. We have enough home-grown criminals damaging our communities without allowing foreign criminals to join them.
• Communist League – Hugo Wils: I would use any position I held to extend solidarity to Union fights and social struggles here and around the world. I would join with all efforts to oppose Britain’s rulers’ use of their military power to advance their class interests across the world. I would call for all British troops and bases out of the Middle East and for “US hands off Cuba!” – for ending London’s complicity.
• Green Party – Hannah Spencer I will always fight against inequality. Greater Manchester has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, in one of the richest countries in the world. We are not a poor nation, we have just been treated poorly by successive governments that have allowed inequality to deepen.
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: Having recently lost my parents, I feel that we need to ensure that we properly tackle the problems of an ageing population and ensure that the NHS and social care are properly integrated so that people can live with dignity as they age.
• Libertarian Party – Dan Clarke Governments constant encroachments on our civil liberties. This needs to be tackled urgently, our rights as individuals, as parents and so on are more under threat by our government than ever before. I will fight to steer the ship around to keep people free from government interference. 
• Rejoin UK – Joseph O’Meachair: Without question, the most important issue is reversing the damage caused by Brexit. This must be done openly. Those who voted to leave deserve respect, which means no behind‑the‑scenes negotiations. We should be clear, transparent, and unambiguous.

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