Comments late last year indicate challenges Farage faces in courting working-class voters
Reform UK’s candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election has said the party would put public sector unions “under review” if it came to power, in a sign of the challenges Nigel Farage faces as he seeks to court working-class voters.
“[Reform] will place public sector trade unions under review,” Matthew Goodwin said during a speech in early December, before the by-election had been called, at which he set out a wide-ranging policy vision for a Reform government to “fix broken Britain”.
Reform wants to put public unions ‘under review’, by-election candidate has said, ft.com
Tag: Gorton and Denton
‘I wouldn’t touch a Jewish woman’: Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
Earlier this week, the anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate passed us their research into Goodwin’s fellow campaigners. They had identified five separate individuals who had been out campaigning with Goodwin who had shared racist content online or expressed support for far-right groups. In some cases, there is little grey area: Goodwin’s campaigners have expressed clear support for the far-right group Britain First, baselessly suggested that 60-70% of transgender people are paedophiles or posted online that Muslims are only in the UK because they wish to “conquer” it.
‘I wouldn’t touch a Jewish woman’: Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton, manchestermill.co.uk
Reform faces police investigation over ‘concerned neighbour’ byelection letters
Material distributed in Gorton and Denton did not have legally required imprint stating it was funded by party
Reform UK will face a police investigation in Gorton and Denton after admitting it sent out letters from a “concerned neighbour” which did not state they had been funded and distributed by the party.
Greater Manchester police confirmed it had received a report about the breach of electoral law and said it would investigate. The Electoral Commission said the omission was a matter for the police, stressing that failing “to include an imprint in candidate election material is an offence”.
Dozens of voters in the Gorton and Denton constituency reported receiving letters from a pensioner written in a handwriting-style font on Friday. The letters do not include an imprint saying who they have been funded and distributed by, as required by electoral law.
Reform faces police investigation over ‘concerned neighbour’ byelection letters, The Guardian
Reform UK just broke electoral law in Gorton and Denton
People across the constituency thought they were getting a letter from a concerned pensioner, they didn’t know she was working for Reform
Every letter is addressed, both on the envelope and at the head of the letter, to the residents of the property, by name, suggesting whoever sent them has access to the electoral register. One recipient of the letter who wrote in, told us that the name on her letter was indeed her real name – but not the name that any of her friends (or neighbours) know her by. This same recipient has opted out of the Open Register, meaning that her name should only be accessible to political parties or their agents for legitimate campaigning purposes. Crucially, not one person we spoke to knew of a Patricia Clegg in the area. “Just to be clear, I have no idea who she is and if she is even real,” wrote one recipient.
Exclusive: Reform UK just broke electoral law in Gorton and Denton, The Mill