Zack Polanski will travel to Gorton and Denton tonight to kickstart the Green Party’s campaign ahead of the by-election on 26 February. There are just over five weeks to go before voting opens and the party is scrambling to find the best candidate to win the seat. With Andy Burnham ruled out of by Labour’s National Executive Committee, Green sources say the party is preparing to throw everything at winning the seat.
The Greens are polling third in the seat with 24 per cent of the vote, behind Labour on 29 per cent and Reform on 27 per cent. The party will have to put the work in to win. Green Party sources have told the New Statesman they are viewing the upcoming by-election as a two-horse race: their main opponent is Reform. Over the weekend, the party’s local branch in Manchester were already out canvassing residents’ support. They are planning another session on Saturday at which high-profile Greens – including the party’s Commons Leader, Ellie Chowns – will be in attendance.
Last week, speculation mounted that Polanski himself would stand. But as the New Statesman revealed on Sunday, the Green Party’s eco-populist leader has since ruled himself out. Sources close to Polanski maintain that he is most likely to stand for a seat in Hackney – where he lives with his partner Richie – and is still very committed to his role as a London Assembly Member.
The Greens are pouring a lot of resources into winning the Hackney mayoralty in May, and should they do so, it could make Polanski’s passage to a parliamentary seat there a little smoother. A Green Party source told the New Statesman that the choice of candidate would be left up to the local party.
Internal Green Party nominations opened on Sunday and will stay open for one week, with selection taking place on 1 February. Because there is so little time before 26 February, selection will take place at an online hustings event on Thursday 29 January. Members of Manchester and Tameside Green parties will be eligible to attend and vote within this selection, but they must be fully paid up members by 9am on the day of the ballot.
With Polanski out of the running, several names have been floated as potential candidates. As one source puts it, the most obvious local candidate is Hannah Spencer, the leader of the Green Party on Trafford Council and the party’s candidate for the 2024 election for Greater Manchester mayor (Spencer came fifth). Spencer is a plumber by trade who works on home retrofitting. She was first elected as a councillor in May 2023 and used to live in the constituency. She still works there as a plasterer-in-training. One Green Party insider told the New Statesman, “Hannah is the favourite.”
Another is Mothin Ali, one of the Green Party’s deputy leaders (and who spoke to the New Statesman last year). Ali is a councillor in Leeds and was elected as deputy alongside Rachel Millward in September 2025. His candidacy could be auspicious for the party, considering it has the backing of the Muslim Vote – a campaign group that describes itself as seeking to “empower the Muslim vote in Britain”. Salma Yaqoob, who ran as an independent in 2024 and has been linked to Your Party, is also appearing alongside Polanski at tonight’s rally.
Ali has not publicly announced his intention to run, but sources close to the deputy leader told the New Statesman he is “considering it”. Green Party rules mean candidates can’t declare their candidacy until a certain point in the selection process, so Ali has not yet been able to announce his intention to run. A source close to Ali said his candidacy would be important as 24.8 per cent of the community in Gorton and Denton are “Muslim, working-class families who’ve been ignored for too long”.
They added: “A working-class Muslim man in parliament is about showing that people from our backgrounds belong there too.” Ali told the New Statesman that this is a critical moment for the Green Party, adding: “In a diverse community like Gorton and Denton, we must offer a politics of hope, of real action against the climate crisis… I’ll take that message and that determination wherever it is wanted.”
However, not all Green Party insiders have reacted warmly to Ali’s potential candidacy. As a councillor in Leeds – not Manchester – Ali is not seen as a local candidate. One Green Party source said members in Manchester were unhappy at the prospect of a non-local candidate being parachuted into the seat. Spencer is also rumoured to be getting messages of support from Green Party members in Leeds.
Another rumoured candidate is Thirza Asanga-Rae, a former Green Party candidate in the Moss Side ward of Manchester City Council (she lost to the Labour candidate in 2024). Rae’s name has been circulating on X, however she has yet to comment publicly. One party source said they did not think Rae would decide to put herself forward, “unless she has told literally no one”.
By the end of next weekend, the Green Party will have a candidate to throw its weight behind. But a battle over who will take the reins in Gorton and Denton has already begun to rage internally between those who think the candidate should be local, and those who see opportunity in backing the deputy leader.
[Further reading: Labour should fear a Green surge]
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