𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin declared the Gorton and Denton by-election a “referendum on Keir Starmer” as he vowed to fight for the Brexit voters in the seat. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Express, the academic-turned-candidate said that both Labour and the Conservatives had sold out those who voted to take back control of the country’s borders.

Mr Goodwin laid out his vision for the constituency in a wide ranging interview as he issued a stark warning to Sir Keir: a victory for Reform would leave the Prime Minister with no choice but to resign. “Taxes are up, unemployment is up, energy bills are up, the cost of living crisis is getting worse,” cautioned the Reform candidate, saying he was “sick and tired of what has happened to this once great country”.

Blasting the government’s record on immigration he added: “The number of small boats illegally crossing the Channel has never been higher. There are HMOs in this constituency housing illegal migrants, paid for by its hard-working people.” People across the area “feel ignored” he says, adding: “They are saying ‘enough is enough’, and I agree. We are worth so much more than what we see around us today.”

Sir Keir is a central figure in the campaign, whether he likes it or not. Mr Goodwin says: “The government is clearly not in touch with the people in this seat – that is the overwhelming message from people here in Gorton and Denton. This by-election is a chance for the hardworking, law abiding, taxpaying people of this constituency to make history.”

And in what may be fast becoming the campaign slogan, he adds “it is a referendum on Keir Starmer and his hopeless government. And when we win, he will have no choice but to stand down.” Sir Keir’s party is “asleep at the wheel” he claims, “too busy fighting amongst themselves to stand up for the British people and save this country from managed decline.”

Immigration and higher bills are the central messages of the campaign, with Mr Goodwin suggested: “A vote for Labour is a vote for Keir Starmer and more of the same uncontrolled mass immigration, broken borders, record high taxes, surging energy bills, and all the rest. The only vote for change is a vote for Reform.”

When it comes to Brexit, he is characteristically unafraid to talk about the issue. He says that Brexit voters have been “betrayed by both Keir Starmer’s Labour government and the Tory governments before him.”

Labour, he adds, has “effectively given up on pretending they respect the Brexit vote. Starmer is edging Britain back under EU control with a customs deal and a proposed uncapped UK-EU youth mobility scheme that weakens our borders.” Mr Goodwin, with his eyes on the prize, adds: “We will create the most pro-business government this country has ever seen, lower the tax burdens on small businesses, scrap the ever-interferring ECHR and put an end to small boat arrivals.”

His links to Manchester are worn with pride. The city he boasts “made me”. Mr Goodwin says: “My grandfather worked seven days a week in a steel factory a few miles up the road, my grandmother worked at the University of Salford, both my parents worked for the NHS. My father moved to Manchester when I was 12.”

He adds: “I have so many memories of weekends and holidays here, like chasing my grandfather up the road on our bicycles as he set off in the morning. I revisited his house earlier this week – it was a reminder of why I am who I am.”

For Mr Goodwin the election has a personal element to it. As a young man he attended the University of Salford, and whilst there he says: “I delivered pizzas in the area in my clapped out Ford Fiesta! I then returned to work at the University of Manchester a few years later. This city gave me my first start in life, a purpose and a proper job. I want to give something back to the area which has always supported me, and deliver change for the people that gave me that opportunity.”

His distance from the “establishment” forms a key part of what he says on the doorstep to locals. “I am not a Tory; and I am not part of the Westminster blob. I am, like many people in this seat and millions of people across the UK, simply fed up of seeing what is happening to our communities and homes,” he says.

Mr Goodwin tells us the main issue for his voters is the cost of living. He says that “the hardworking people here are struggling more than ever before. As a further slap in the face, HMOs have been popping up in the area, which nobody voted for and yet taxpayers fund – and locals are rightly outraged”.

His critics however are scathing of the Reform campaign. The Conservatives, who have yet to announce their candidates, scolded the party for supporting “higher welfare spending and nationalising British industry”. A spokesman added: “They have nothing to say on the economy except more and more government spending.”

Labour have campaigned so far on a message that of a choice between “unity and change with Labour, or division and risk with Reform.”

Speaking to the Express, Andrew Western MP, Labour’s campaign lead in the seat said: “Tommy Robinson’s endorsement of Reform’s candidate shows who he really is and what he stands for.”
 
He added: “Only a vote for Labour can stop the toxic politics that Matthew Goodwin and Tommy Robinson would bring to Manchester.”

The Gorton and Denton by-election will be held on Thursday 26 February 2026.