The Guardian has published an interesting piece by Jonathan Liew about the campaign of Matt Goodwin, the hard right pundit who is Reform’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton By-Election on Thursday.
It seems clear from the report that Goodwin is being very carefully managed and is certainly not out and about meeting voters.
Its an interesting strategy if not a surprising one. Goodwin is not a seasoned political activist used to the rough and tumble of politics particularly in a By-Election campaign is hardly likely to go well for him. Perhaps his GB media profile will help his vote but such occasions are rather different to General Elections where national campaigns rule and what local candidates do or can do is often quite limited.
While the link below contains a brief interview Goodwin with the Guardian, warning the paper to report it correctly or else (free speech and all that) in a Telegraph interview (22nd February) Goodwin claims he has been out canvassing between one and three times a day sometimes for up to eight hours. The purpose of canvassing of course is to identify people who will or are very likely to vote for you and make sure on election day that they actually vote. Whether Goodwin’s pit stops identified by the Guardian article fulfils that seems doubtful but we will find out shortly…
I vote in Tottenham but if I had a vote in Gorton and Denton I’d go Green. As a socialist I have and always have had reservations about the Green Party. Its open to left ideas but that doesnt mean its reliably left. Anyway these discussions are for other times. Stopping Goodwin while sending a message to Starmer that there are viable alternatives to Labour on the left would be a good outcome
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