Cindy #FBPE

Over on threads an account called cotswoldjess has posted:

Matt (the twat) Goodwin is blaming Muslims for his loss - when a white woman from a party led by a gay Jewish bloke one.

Sums up Matt & Reform UK @mrjamesob.bsky.social

Lucy Rigby MP: "This is who Reform are👇

On my way to Gorton & Denton to campaign against Reform’s hate & division, & for Labour’s Angeliki Stogia 🌹

Unity over division every day of the week."

Here's my big takeaway from all this.

Since 2016 the Tories have pursued exactly the same things Reform is offering now — isolation, recrimination, division, and blind faith that finding the *right* charismatic bullshitter will fix the country.

The Tories lost their deposit.

It doesn't work.

That's the way to do it. So good to see progressive politicians pushing back hard on Reform's messaging. Highly effective and so refreshing and Labour could learn a lot from Polanski in this regard. Take the attack to the Faragists - don't let them get away with it.

@zackpolanski.bsky.social : "Once again Reform are spreading misinformation & smears, and the press & the media seem to repeat them.. its really important that the media.. take responsibility so when Reform or Farage says something they don't just keep repeating it"👏👏👏

Q: Why was Ghislaine Maxwell invited to your daughter Chelsea's wedding?

HILLARY CLINTON: She came as the +1 of someone who was invited

It's over 30 years ago that a regular feature of the Today programme was Tory chairman Ken Baker explaining why the Tories had lost yet another by-election.
They won every single one back in the 1992 General Election.

If Farage is already complaining the vote was rigged, you can assume he doesn’t think he’s won….

If Labour have any chance of a come back they are going to have to change direction on austerity, refugees, taxing the rich and Brexit otherwise they are heading down the same road as the Tories, into oblivion.

The public has spoken clearly in Gorton and Denton.
@labourlewis.bsky.social

2026: Chairman of Reform UK says the Green party issuing leaflets in Urdu is appalling

2016: In 2016 Vote Leave published leaflets in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi

So the candidate who left school at 16 with no A-Levels and who's spent her whole adult life vocational, manual jobs beat the ivory tower academic turned cushy media pundit, but you can be sure we'll still get plenty more casual description of the latter as "white working class".

Thoughts and prayers for the wankers at Sky News, the BBC and ITV as Farage gets told to fuck off.

Not what I hoped. Turnout wasn’t good enough.

A good win by the Greens. Congrats to Hannah.

It wasn’t Reform. Nor in Southampton. And I will take that. That’s the best result of all.

Very glad I didn’t wait up. Off for coffee.

The vote went beyond rejection of far-right populism (although that's already fantastic).

If that had been all, voters could have stayed w/ safe haven Labour.

No, this goes further. It's a decision FOR a different political tone & content. Progressive, positive policies designed for people.

Dear Labour.
See where holding on to Brexit and austerity, not taxing the rich and demonising refugees gets you. 🤷‍♂️

@sarahhall-labour.bsky.social @labourlewis.bsky.social @charlotte2153.bsky.social @sadikal-hassanmp.bsky.social @sarahowen.org.uk @bengoldsborough.bsky.social

The by-election result was always going to go this way, no matter who had been the Labour candidate.

Labour are on course to deliver what this Country needs. Just a reminder of this week’s announcements. They’re in office, have a stonking majority and GE is well over 3 years away. It was a By Election with a 47% turnout. It would have been nice to win. But it’s politics.

Kemi Badenoch is currently explaining to a mirror why she was the real winner last night while listening to Will Powers’ Adventures in Success.

Successive interviews by Nick Robinson this morning perfectly sum up the BBC:

with Zack Polanski: sneering, aggressive, constantly interrupting.

with David Bull, Reform's Chairman: polite, nodding along, barely any interruptions.

Amazing. Will share the link when it's up so you can listen too.

Gorton and Denton by-election result: GRN: 40.7% (+27.5) REF: 28.7% (+14.7) LAB: 25.4% (-25.3) CON: 1.9% (-6.0) LDEM: 1.8% (-2.1) Green GAIN from Labour.

Expect weeks of "family voting" rhetoric from Reform. They're out of the gates on it already.

It mustn't be allowed to wash because look at the scale of that win.

Tactical voting has obviously played a massive part.

Gorton and Denton rejected Reform and its hateful agenda.

Putin made a wise investment in Trump.

Left-wing MEPs push Commission to finance abortions in the EU Signed by 105 MEPs, the letter to Ursula von der Leyen calls for a European fund to ensure effective access to reproductive healthcare, a move one million European citizens have requested. #EuropeNews

105 members of the European Parliament sent a letter to the Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen, putting pressure on her to support the European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice, My Choice”. It could improve access to safe abortion in Europe by funding travel from countries with less access.

The DOJ dumped millions of Epstein files and called it transparency, but key FBI interviews naming Trump in abuse allegations were missing. If evidence about a sitting president is being withheld, that’s not transparency that’s a cover up.

Reform going full on Trump.

Statement from Matt Goodwin, UK candidate: Reform "Given the reports we are reading in UK media about family voting and sectarianism, I am deeply concerned about the extent to which the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election is a free, fair, and democratic election." 11:21 pm . 26 Feb 26. 286K Views

Not just a loser.

But a bad loser.

Disappointing result for Labour in Gorton & Denton. The result shows they need to stop chasing the Reform vote, although, where I live it's the Reform vote they need to look out for. They also need to work harder on their coms, which is made more difficult when they are fighting against the press.

Tom Kerridge, "Immigration is constantly used by political parties for masking years and years of underfunding in infrastructure, health, housing, employment, education" #BBCQT

"It is not the fault of immigration, it's the fault of poor spending, poor money management"

Zia Yusuf falling for the "took my 93yr mum to vote, she's registered blind" meme

Don't know what's worse - that the young Reform activist who tweeted it didn't get that this is a piss take meme, or that the literal chair of Reform UK thought it was real.

Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir explains why Iceland want to join the European Union:

"Iceland has a lot to bring to the European Union"

"We've developed our resources in a positive way"

"We have a good welfare system"

"We have solid values"

"And we have respect for one another"