What Is Family Voting? Reform UK Reports Allegations to Police After Gorton and Denton By-Election
what is family voting has become the central question after Reform UK took allegations from the Gorton and Denton by-election to Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission. The referral follows independent observers documenting dozens of apparent breaches of the secret ballot and comes as the Green Party was declared the victor by more than 4, 000 votes over Reform UK.
What Is Family Voting and Democracy Volunteers' Findings
Democracy Volunteers, an accredited election observation organisation founded by Dr John Ault and supported by Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, defines the practice as accompanying voters into or near polling booths and influencing them to vote a particular way. The group deployed four accredited observers across Gorton and Denton, attended 22 of the constituency's 45 polling stations while polls were open, and worked in pairs, spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each station.
Democracy Volunteers' numbers: 32 cases, 545 voters and historic highs
The observers reported 32 cases of apparent collusion, including nine cases in a single polling station, and said this was the highest level in their 10-year history of observing UK elections. In a sample of 545 voters they watched cast ballots, 12% were either directed or affected by family voting; the volunteers said they saw family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations they observed—figures the organisation equated with 68% of the polling stations in the constituency when compared with other recent byelections.
Nigel Farage, Reform UK and the Police referral
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reported the allegations to Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission and urged a full investigation with a view to prosecutions and an assessment of whether irregularities might call the election result into question. Farage characterised what was witnessed as "a victory for sectarian voting and cheating" and warned of potential coercion in postal voting if action is not taken.
Electoral Commission, returning officer and Greater Manchester Police action
The Electoral Commission said it was taking the claims very seriously and would carefully consider the report, and stated it was in close contact with the returning officer and Greater Manchester Police to speedily and carefully review the concerns and all information available. Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a report has been made and that it is in the process of reviewing it, with a further update to follow in due course.
Ballot Secrecy Act 2023, Manchester city council and polling-station practice
Observers noted that the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 makes family voting more clearly a breach of the secret ballot, yet signage discouraging the practice was seen in only 45% of the polling stations observed. Manchester city council said staff had been trained to look for evidence of voter interference and that no concerns were reported or raised with them while polls were open. The volunteers also recorded other issues at polling stations: voters being turned away because they were not registered for Westminster elections—for example, some EU citizens eligible only in local elections—voters photographing ballot papers, and one instance in which one person being authorised to vote despite them already unclear in the provided context.
Political reactions from Labour, the Greens and Reform UK figures
Labour described the observers' reports as extremely worrying; Labour party chair Anna Turley said the evidence and the full report must be seen before decisions are taken on which authorities should investigate. Green Party leader Zack Polanski said he would back an inquiry and called for transparency about the democratic process. A Green Party spokesman dismissed the allegations as an attempt to undermine the result and said the party had won a historic by-election by a comfortable margin. Reform UK chair David Bull described electoral fraud as "a stain on democracy" and said his party would support reporting and ensuring action is taken in line with the law. Separately, a party observer presence was noted as votes were counted, and the Labour leader stated he would fight on after the by-election defeat to the Greens.
Democracy Volunteers describes itself as a non-partisan, domestic election observation organisation committed to improving electoral security and accessibility in the UK and abroad. It is one of the organisations accredited by the Electoral Commission; accredited observers are entitled by law to attend polling stations and vote counts, must declare political impartiality under a code of practice, and can have accreditation refused or revoked if impartiality checks are not satisfied. Democracy Volunteers said it was also present in 204 parliamentary constituencies and more than 1, 000 polling stations during the 2024 general election.
What makes this notable is the combination of an official referral to police and the watchdog, numerical evidence from an accredited observer group showing previously unseen levels of apparent collusion, and statutory changes that now more clearly frame such conduct as a breach of the secret ballot. The immediate effect has been a formal review by election authorities and a pledge from campaigners and party figures to press for further scrutiny of the incident and its implications.
