Starmer, Polanski and Farage in final pitch to voters as polls open in Gorton and Denton byelection – UK politics live

Voting begins in one of the most eagerly awaited and fiercely contested byelections of recent years Good morning. In Gorton and Denton, on the outskirts of Manchester, people have started voting in one of the most eagerly awaited, and fiercely contested, byelections of recent years. All the polling suggests the result will be very close. The political scientists argue that, if a party wins a contest like this by just a few hundred votes (or perhaps ever fewer – Reform UK won the Runcorn and H...

By Andrew Sparrow