Excl: Labour And Greens Clash Over Posters Amid By Election Tensions

Labour’s supporters ended up in a battle over their by-election posters outside the Green Party office in Gorton and Denton, HuffPost UK understands.

With ten days to go until the electorate in the Greater Manchester constituency head to the ballot box to choose their new MP, Labour and the Greens continue their bitter fight over the left-wing vote against Reform UK’s rise.

Two terraced properties encapsulated this war perfectly over the weekend, as supporters for the two rival parties decorated the neighbouring houses with ads for different campaigns.

An advert for Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia was put up on the wall next to the Green Party offices by the neighbour, HuffPost UK understands.

But the Green Party later pointed out that fresh photos showing support for their candidate Hannah Spencer were put in the window of the same building, just below Stogia’s poster – supposedly by tenants of the same property.

Andrew Western – Labour’s political lead for the by-election and Stretford and Urmston MP – said the advertising for Stogia right next to the Greens HQ was a sign that it was over for the party.

“The writing’s literally on the wall,” he told HuffPost UK. “Even the Greens’ neighbours know only Labour can beat Reform.

“It’s time Zack Polanski stopped misleading voters and woke up to the fact that a vote for the Greens just risks letting Reform’s Tommy Robinson-backed candidate in through the back door.

“Only a vote for Labour’s Angeliki Stogia can bring people together in Gorton and Denton and stop Matthew Goodwin from driving a wedge through communities in Manchester.”

However a Green Party spokesperson said the property’s inhabitants still back their party.

They told HuffPost UK: “The landlord put it up, yet the tenants have Green posters in the window. It’s a sign of the state of politics now – Labour prioritises landlords and Greens prioritise tenants.

“Labour know this election is now Reform versus Green but of course they don’t want to lose too badly and they’re fighting for every vote, even if that means Reform win.”

The by-election is currently a three-horse race between Stogia, Spencer and Reform UK’s candidate Matt Goodwin.

Both the Greens and Labour have pitched themselves as the only way to stop the rise of right-wing Reform.