THE Labour Party has chosen a candidate relatively unknown to Tameside residents for the forthcoming Denton and Gorton by-election.
Angeliki Stogia has been selected to represent the party, after Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was blocked from entering the contest last week.
February’s by-election was prompted by Andrew Gwynne’s resignation on health grounds.
Gwynne won the seat for Labour at the July 2024 general election with a majority of more than 13,000 votes, but was sacked as a public health minister and suspended from the party in February 2025 after the shocking ‘Trigger Me Timbers’ WhatsApp scandal came to light.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK came second at the last election on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens with 4,810.
Stogia is currently a Labour councillor for the Whalley Range ward in south Manchester and previously stood at the last general election in Chester South and Eddisbury, where she was defeated by the Conservatives.
She told a crowd of party activists in Levenshulme on Saturday (January 31) that she was “thrilled and excited” as “a proud Mancunian woman” to start campaigning in the constituency.
“This is about Manchester,” she added. “Manchester is a city united, we are rejecting division. I am so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning this for Labour.”
Stogia – a Manchester city councillor since 2012 – was joined at the announcement of her candidacy by Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds, Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner, the party’s Deputy Leader Lucy Powell and other local Labour MPs.
Indeed, Ms Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have already been seen campaigning in the constituency, as the party faces a battle to retain the seat and avoid an embarrassing defeat.
Former Health Secretary Burnham – who was first elected Greater Manchester mayor in 2017 – sought permission to represent Labour at the by-election but was blocked by the party’s ruling body.
Much to the anger of some MPs, Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) said if he won the seat, it would trigger an “unnecessary election” for the mayor and divert party resources from other important elections coming up across the UK in May.
Burnham – who would have been widely seen as a potential challenger to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership if elected as an MP – has said that he wanted to stand to “fight the politics of Reform” and not to “undermine the government”.
The 56-year-old said he “accepted” the NEC’s decision and vowed to campaign for Labour to win the by-election.
Voters will head to the polls in a few weeks’ time and, as things stand, will be able to choose from five candidates to become their next MP.
Alongside Stogia for Labour, Matt Goodwin from Reform UK, Sebastian Moore of the Social Democratic Party, Liberal Democrats’ Jackie Pearcey and Hannah Spencer from the Green Party will also be standing.
The by-election is on Thursday, February 26, with the result likely to be announced in the early hours of the following morning.