Politics
Mothin Ali tells Labour to stop begging the Greens to stand down
There are many people attached to the Labour Party who have argued the Greens should do the ‘decent thing’ and stand down in the Makerfield by-election. The counter-argument to this is why would they? And as the Greens’ deputy leader Mothin Ali has now said:
If Burnham can't win an election without the Greens giving him an easy ride, how's he going to beat Reform in a general election?
— Mothin Ali (@MothinAli) May 26, 2026
Put up or shut up
The Makerfield race may be the most decisive by-election in British electoral history. If Andy Burnham wins, he will almost certainly replace Keir Starmer as the PM. In other words, we’re essentially having a US-style presidential race that’s being decided by a single borough in Wigan.
Current polling from Survation suggests Labour is leading:
… by just 3pts Poll: @Survation, 18-22 May (+/- vs GE2024) pic.twitter.com/nkLcrXQs8P — Stats for Lefties
This was before the Green Party had an official candidate, with said candidate being Sarah Wakefield:
"Vote in hope" – Greens announce Sarah Wakefield as new Makerfield candidate
Wakefield represents something of a 'safe' candidate for the Greens – which will stave off the Zionists but frustrate many others, writes @skwawkbox https://t.co/qAI9kbdeBchttps://t.co/qAI9kbdeBc — Canary (@TheCanaryUK) May 27, 2026
Wakefield is the Green Party councillor for Deansgate, having recently been elected to the position. Our own Skwawkbox wrote of her:
Wakefield represents something of a ‘safe’ candidate for the Greens in Makerfield. Unlike Kennedy, she appears to have been relatively silent on Israel and its genocide in Gaza. This deprives the UK Israel lobby of an opportunity to attack her, but will also frustrate the many who will want to support a clear anti-genocide candidate in the by-election.
Given the demographics of Makerfield, it’s likely not the case that having strong opinions about the genocide would benefit her — although we always encourage such opinions, of course. The Greens’ position on other hot topics could cut through enough to trim down Burnham’s vote, if they put some effort in.
Leader Zack Polanski said the following about Wakefield:
It's time to end Rip off Britain.
For too long we've had people in charge of the decisions that affect our lives in the pockets of the super rich.
The Green Party have two vested interests – protecting communities and our planet. It's time to tax the super rich. https://t.co/KVb00hiaai
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 26, 2026
Burnham has no such plan to tax the rich. In fact, the more we’ve looked into it, the more it seems like Burnham has no plan full stop:
- Burnham ‘to support’ Mahmood’s racist immigration changes.
- Burnham is silent on wealth taxes – not a promising sign from potential PM.
- Andy Burnham’s role with Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank just shows he’s more of the same.
- Burnham WON’T back proportional representation this parliament.
- Shapeshifting Burnham ditches trans rights to panic-grab Reform votes.
- Burnham slammed for saying he won’t renationalise Thames Water.
Despite this, there’s some reporting to suggest that the Greens are scaling back their campaign:
.@TheGreenParty takes the moral high ground
It knows Greens are unlikely to win in Makerfield & the number one priority is to defeat Reform UK
Greens will run scaled-back campaign but will push Burnham to pledge a democratic voting system of PR. Bravo!https://t.co/dJpsZzgVDy
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) May 27, 2026
The Greens have decided to devote only limited resources to next month’s Makerfield by-election, the Guardian has learned, in a potentially significant boost to Andy Burnham’s chances of winning the seat.
The party is instead expected to focus more on the by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty, which will be triggered if Burnham is returned to parliament, senior Green figures have said.
This would explain why the party is running a candidate who can simply return to her council position once the race is over. And to be fair, it might arguably be smarter to go for broke on the Greater Manchester mayoral race, should Burnham vacate the position. The question is whether this sort of tricksy behaviour will wash with members.
Which is it, Greens?
So are the Greens laying down to let Burnham in? Or are they taking the fight to Labour, as Ali suggests here:
The Greens are the party of the working class. We are not here to play tag along to Starmerism with a northern accent.
— Mothin Ali (@MothinAli) May 25, 2026
If the Greens are standing down to let Burnham in, what happens when he’s PM?
Do they half-arse every race moving forwards to not disturb his premiership?
We know senior Greens like Caroline Lucas wanted the party to stand down because Burnham supports proportional representation. This is something he’s now admitted he wouldn’t introduce this parliament, though, and there’s no way of guaranteeing he would put it in Labour’s next manifesto — especially not if his government seems likely to benefit from not doing so.
While the senior politicians are thinking like politicians, however, the members are thinking like fighters:
Here we go, centrist Greens doing their best to stop the Green Party growth in its tracks https://t.co/gOnhlovB2D
— Mrs Gee
The Greens’ membership hasn’t trebled because Zack Polanski made a habit of backing down. And the party would do well to remember that.
Featured image via the Canary
By Willem Moore
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