January 31, 2026
News release
Rejoin EU Party announces candidate for Gorton & Denton by-election
The Rejoin EU Party is pleased to announce that Joseph O’Meachair, a member of the party’s executive committee, is to stand as its candidate in the forthcoming Gorton & Denton by-election on Thursday February 26.
The decision of the constituency’s Labour MP Andrew Gwynne to stand down triggered the election, which looked set to be a probable win for Labour if the party had endorsed pro-EU Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham as its candidate. However, Labour’s decision to block Burnham from standing appears to have thrown the contest wide open.
The Rejoin EU Party consequently has decided to stand a candidate who can offer voters a clear pro-EU alternative to the cautious, ineffective or, in some cases, downright hostile policies on Europe held by other major parties standing in this election.
O’Meachair, who lives in the North West and has already been out and about speaking to voters in Gorton & Denton, said: “I’m standing to offer voters the opportunity to send a strong message to Keir Starmer, Labour and others – that politicians can no longer ignore the damage caused by Brexit and that we need to re-join the EU.
“Britain is being humiliated on the world stage. Our self-respect demands that we re-join a strong democratic bloc to resist pressures from some nations whose only aim appears simply to be to further their own narrow self interests.”
Rejoin EU Party chairman Brendan Donnelly said: “Re-joining the EU should not be a vague aspiration for the remote future. It’s an urgent task for the here and now.
“An increasing number of voters realise the damage Brexit is doing to this country. This by-election will allow the voters of Gorton & Denton to call for an end to the chaos by voting for our candidate Joseph O’Meachair.”
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Find out more by visiting our website at www.therejoineuparty.com and following us on Twitter at @rejoinp and at https://www.facebook.com/RejoinEUParty
The Rejoin EU Party is campaigning to re-join the EU because we believe re-joining is the only way to solve the multiple problems Brexit has created. Brexit is broken and it’s breaking our country too. All the promises on which Brexit was sold to the electorate in 2016 were nonsense. Far from reducing red tape and providing £350m a week for the NHS, Brexit makes trading with the crucial European market more complex, difficult and expensive and threatens to reduce funding for public services. If you agree Brexit is making our country poorer, less tolerant and less united, join us and send a message to Westminster that you want your EU membership back, with all its freedoms and benefits.