Foreign-born voters stole by-election, Farage blasts: Amid rising alarm over suspected poll fraud, Reform leader says allowing non-British citizens into ballot booth threatens democracy
Nigel Farage has sensationally claimed that Reform UK was robbed of victory by foreign-born voters in last week’s Manchester by-election.Amid mounting allegations that voter fraud and sectarianism contributed to the Green Party’s shock win, Mr Farage makes the incendiary assertion in the Mail on Sunday that ‘Reform UK won the Gorton and Denton by-election among British-born voters’.And he vowed that if he becomes Prime Minister he will rip up rules which allow non-British citizens to vote in UK elections.Zack Polanski’s Greens targeted the Muslim vote in Gorton and Denton, focusing their campaign on Gaza and accusing Israel of genocide. The party, which released leaflets and videos in Urdu, has been accused of ‘whipping up hatred’ and exploiting sectarianism to secure victory for their candidate, Hannah Spencer.Independent election observers also reported record levels of so-called ‘family voting’, the illegal practice that often involves a man entering a polling booth with his wife or other relative and telling them how to vote. The observers estimated that up to one in eight votes could have been affected by this.Under current rules, citizens of Commonwealth nations such as Pakistan can take part in British ballots as long as they register themselves as being resident at an address within a UK constituency. Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer won in the Gorton and Denton by-election this week (pictured with her party leader, Zack Polanski) Nigel Farage has sensationally claimed in response that his own party, Reform UK, were robbed of victory by foreign-born votersThey must be in the UK legally, which generally means they must have valid immigration status.Now, in an article for this newspaper, Mr Farage – whose party lost by 4,402 votes – has called the Gorton and Denton result ‘the most glaring example yet of what happens if we’re not careful about the impacts of mass immigration and about the legitimacy of those who can vote in our elections’.Mr Farage said Reform had established that 10 per cent of the electorate in the constituency were born in Pakistan, and that in half of the wards, more than 20 per cent of voters had been born abroad. In one ward, 48 per cent of the voters were not born in Britain. Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour was beaten into third place in the contest, triggering fresh calls for him to resign as leader.In other developments:Oxford-based academic Dr Patrick Nash claimed the practice of cousin marriages was a key driver of ‘family voting’ in the by-election;Mr Polanski hired a spin doctor, Abi Wilkinson, who denied that any of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks were raped, posted about ‘demonic zionists’ and has repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany;The BBC was accused of ‘bowing to woke cultural sensitivities’ by not reporting the claims of voter fraud in its flagship Today programme on Radio 4;Supporters of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham predicted that he would forge an alliance with the Greens and rip up the first-past-the-post electoral system if he succeeds Sir Keir as Prime Minister;Mr Burnham is understood to be trying to persuade Marie Rimmer, the veteran Labour MP for St Helens South, to stand aside to let him return to the Commons, with what sources described as ‘an implicit promise of a peerage’ so he can mount a leadership bid;Exclusive polling published in the Mail on Sunday shows 44 per cent of voters think the Prime Minister should resign after losing the by-election, with 34 per cent saying he should stay;Chancellor Rachel Reeves will lead an attempted Government fightback this week with announcements focusing on the cost of living and a spring forecast claiming to point to ‘green shoots’ in the economy. Zack Polanski's Greens targeted the Muslim vote in Gorton and Denton, focusing their campaign on Gaza and accusing Israel of genocide Join the debateShould voting in UK elections be reserved for British citizens only?A new offence designed to tackle ‘family voting’ was created in 2023, making it illegal for a person to accompany a voter to a polling booth or position themselves nearby with the intention of influencing their decision.Lord Hayward, the Tory peer and pollster who introduced the law using a private members’ Bill, said the system had clearly ‘gone wrong in a substantial way’ in Gorton and Denton. He said he felt ‘very disappointed’ that the law was apparently flouted.Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour had ‘created the monster of harvesting Muslim community bloc votes’ at previous elections, adding: ‘That monster came back to bite them.’She said the rise of sectarian politics was starting to ‘unravel the culture of tolerance that makes Britain great’.Greater Manchester Police has said it will investigate the allegations highlighted by Reform. A spokesman said: ‘We can confirm a report has been made. We are in the process of reviewing this report and will provide a further update in due course.’The Green Party has said claims it cheated were ‘an attempt to undermine the democratic result’.Nigel Farage: Allowing non-British citizens to vote here poses a grave risk to our democracy For years, I warned of the looming threat of sectarian voting.Naturally, of course, I was derided by the political establishment and accused of spouting outrageous hyperbole.My generation grew up witnessing the violent horrors of sectarianism in Northern Ireland and the impact it had.But most believed it could never come to England.That was until the last general election, when four pro-Gaza Independent MPs were elected to Parliament.Then, finally, everybody woke up to those dangers.I am well aware that what I am about to say will be viewed as sour grapes.But I say it because I believe it to be 100 per cent true. Reform leader Nigel Farage has said allowing non-British citizens to vote in the UK poses a grave threat to democracyWhat happened last Thursday at the Gorton and Denton by-election, in which the Green Party emerged victorious in a historically Labour stronghold, was the most glaring example yet of what happens if we're not careful about the impact of mass immigration and the legitimacy of those who can vote in our elections.Because let's be frank: Reform UK won the Gorton and Denton by-election among British-born voters.What makes me so certain of saying this is that the raw figures are so stark: 10 per cent of the overall constituency were born in Pakistan.When you drill down into the actual details of what happened last week, the results really are quite extraordinary.There were 14 wards that made up the constituency and in ten of them, more than 20 per cent of people were born abroad.In one ward, Longsight, 48 per cent of the population are foreign-born.Meanwhile, it was perfectly clear that throughout the campaign, in Gorton specifically, the Green Party campaigned not on local issues – or even national issues that would directly impact Gorton – but on issues surrounding Gaza.There could have been no greater demonstration of how mass immigration under both Labour and Conservative governments has fundamentally changed the very nature and atmosphere within many of our cities. The Greens' Hannah Spencer, pictured with party leader Zack Polanski, won the Gorton and Denton by-election with 40.7 per cent of the voteBut the issue that is most astonishing, and, frankly, is not discussed enough, is the right for Commonwealth citizens to vote in UK elections.I had never really quite understood before last week's events the sheer scale and implications of what I believe could be a massive problem for British politics.If you come into this country from a Commonwealth nation such as Pakistan, provided you can prove that you normally reside at a property within a constituency, through Commonwealth rights you get the right to vote.As a result, the thousands of those who voted Green last Thursday are not actually British citizens.And in my opinion this is having a terrifying effect on the British electoral process.I am well aware many people will find this to be shattering news.Some will even find it difficult to believe.But I have checked this out legally and I am right. Reform UK's Matt Goodwin (centre right), pictured with party leader Nigel Farage, finished second in the by-election with 28.7 per cent of the vote, a 15 per cent rise compared to the 2024 general electionSectarianism, in all its forms, leads to even deeper hostility.We saw it in Manchester itself last October when there was the murderous attack on a synagogue.Last week, a man was arrested for entering a mosque in central Manchester allegedly carrying an axe – which worryingly looked like a tit-for-tat reprisal.These conflicts, if played out through British politics, will have a deleterious effect on the whole of our society and all of our communities.How do we tackle this?First, the time has come to confront the extraordinarily dishonest behaviour taking place in polling stations.Democracy Volunteers, a group of election observers who check that voting processes are being followed correctly, claimed last week that in 68 per cent of the polling stations they surveyed in Gorton and Denton, they witnessed what they described as 'family voting'.This is a process where people are walking into booths with their relatives, many of whom speak little or no English, and watch over them as they vote for the 'right' candidate.Make no mistake: This practice must be outlawed. Pictured: votes from the Gorton and Denton by-election are counted in ManchesterAnd if you think about that, it makes you wonder what level of coercion is applied to those who receive postal votes in some of the Muslim communities in Britain, where women have far fewer rights than men.I personally doubt that they get to exercise that option in secrecy.But I feel we have to go further.Which is why, secondly, I think the time has come to end the practice of Commonwealth voting.Yes, I know Britain has a historic association with the Commonwealth.But if we do not, then I fear that what we have seen in Gorton and Denton will play itself out in many areas where local electoral elections are taking place in May.And it's not just council seats.The implications for the next general election are enormous.I'm sorry, but surely it is only right that British citizens should be able to vote in British elections on British issues – not have international problems that are taking place thousands of miles away brought into campaigning.The events in Gorton and Denton over the past few weeks highlighted the troubling direction in which our democracy is heading.After nearly 30 years in politics, I can honestly say this was one of the most disturbing by-elections I have witnessed.It should serve as a wake-up call. Green Party leader Zack Polanski and new Gorton and Denton MP Hannah Spencer, a plumber, pictured at a press conference after her win on Friday'Woke' BBC silent on election fraud claimsBy Gabriel Millard-ClothierThe BBC has been accused of ‘bowing to woke cultural sensitivities’ by not reporting claims of voter fraud in the Gorton and Denton by-election on its flagship Today programme.After the polls closed on Thursday, observers reported record levels of so-called ‘family voting’, which is a criminal offence.Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which lost to the Greens, urged Greater Manchester Police to investigate 32 such incidents and the force said it was ‘reviewing this report’.However, Radio 4’s Today programme did not address the issue on Saturday morning’s broadcast. On BBC News At Ten the previous night, concerns were dismissed with the line: ‘There was plenty of talk about family voting... officials said no such issues were reported by staff.’Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The BBC is the national broadcaster. They must address these concerns. If not, it would be another example of bowing to woke cultural sensitivities rather than serving the national interest.'Nigel Huddleston, Shadow Culture Secretary, said: ‘Given the scale of coverage on the by-election, it is surprising the BBC hasn’t more comprehensively covered evidence of electoral offences. Electoral law should not come second to cultural sensitivities.’A spokesman for the BBC said BBC News ‘reflected the claims of “family voting” across its output’. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp weighed in and said: ‘The BBC is the national broadcaster. They must address these concerns'Family voting 'driven by cousin marriages' By Gabriel Millard-Clothier A leading academic has claimed the practice of cousin marriages is a key driver of illegal ‘family voting’. Dr Patrick Nash argued that there was a strong correlation between family voting and marriages between blood relations in Gorton and Denton’s Muslim community.It has been claimed that as many as one in eight votes cast in the by-election could be attributed to group voting.Dr Nash is an expert on cousin marriage and estimates that up to half of the Muslim community in the constituency engage in this practice. He said: ‘Electoral fraud is typically perpetrated by South Asian Muslim clans and higher rates of cousin marriage are a good predictor of high rates of fraud allegations.’Police are investigating claims of family voting amid warnings that Britain is ‘sleepwalking into sectarian politics’.Hannah Spencer’s win was mired in allegations of sectarianism after the Greens targeted the constituency’s Muslim population with messages about the war in Gaza. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the Greens of running ‘a nasty, sectarian campaign’, and said the rise of sectarian politics was starting to ‘unravel the culture of tolerance that makes Britain great’.
