Gorton And Denton By-election opens as three-horse race in Greater Manchester

Voters in parts of Greater Manchester are heading to the polls in the gorton and denton by-election, scheduled for Thursday 26 February, with polling stations open from 07: 00 GMT until 22: 00. The result is expected to be declared overnight and in the early hours of Friday morning.

Gorton And Denton By-election: polling hours, date and result timetable

Polling stations opened at 07: 00 GMT and will close at 22: 00 to decide who becomes the new MP for the constituency. The by-election is scheduled for Thursday 26 February, and the results of the by-election are set to be declared overnight and on Friday, with the outcome expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

Resignation of Andrew Gwynne triggered the contest

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of now former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne on 22 January on the grounds of ill health. That resignation necessitated the vote to fill the vacancy for the constituency’s MP.

Candidates named alphabetically; Sir Oink A-Lot and Sebastian Moore among entrants

The published list of candidates, shown in alphabetical order, includes Sir Oink A-Lot of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Sebastian Moore of the Social Democratic Party. Campaign coverage has described the contest as effectively a three-horse race, with Labour, the Green Party and Reform UK all fighting this by-election very strongly.

Critics say First Past The Post risks leaving most ballots unrepresented

Campaigners warn that First Past The Post is letting down voters in Gorton and Denton. They point to the UK general election of 2024, described as the most disproportional ever, in which Labour secured almost two-thirds of MPs from just over one-third of votes. Where three or more parties are in contention, candidates are increasingly being elected with the support of fewer than a third of voters in their area, meaning the votes of more than two-thirds of people are simply ignored.

Those critics note that debate in the Gorton and Denton contest has been dominated by tactical questions about which parties have a genuine chance of winning. They say both Labour and the Green Party have been trying to persuade voters that they are the only option for people who want to 'stop Reform'. Looking ahead to wider contests, the claim is that Conservatives and Reform UK will similarly try to persuade voters at the next general election that they are the 'only' choice for those who may want to 'stop Labour' or another party. Because First Past The Post is not designed with more than two candidates in mind, the system is said to encourage parties to engage in this type of campaigning to work around its perceived flaws.

Single Transferable Vote in Scotland offered as a contrasting system

As an alternative, Scottish local elections use the Single Transferable Vote, a form of proportional representation in which voters number the candidates on the ballot paper. In local council by-elections in Scotland, voters can put the candidate they genuinely want to win as their number one, safe in the knowledge that their vote can be transferred to the candidate they put in number two if their first-choice has no chance of being elected and no candidate has received a majority of votes; this process continues until someone wins a majority. The fuller claim that this 'preferential voting' removes a particular prospect is unclear in the provided context.

• Key facts: polling 07: 00 GMT–22: 00; scheduled Thursday 26 February; result expected overnight and in the early hours of Friday morning.
• Candidates listed alphabetically include Sir Oink A-Lot (The Official Monster Raving Loony Party) and Sebastian Moore (Social Democratic Party).
• By-election triggered by the resignation of now former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne on 22 January on grounds of ill health.