Four weeks after I decided to upend my life by standing as the Reform UK candidate at the Gorton and Denton by-election, I was in the small living room of a constituent listening to Nigel Farage give a lecture on phaleristics – the study and collection of war medals. The poor chap whose home we were visiting had barely processed who was at his door before Nigel spotted a collection of medals over his shoulder and charged into his living room to give him chapter and verse. ‘This one’s from 1914! The British Expeditionary Force! Incredibly rare!’ I couldn’t help but notice that, despite his wild enthusiasm at the prospect of us winning one of Labour’s safest seats, he was even more thrilled by the medals. Then again, his ability to connect with ordinary people is unmatched.
Looking back, there were subtle hints the vote mightn’t go my way. ‘GB News!’ shouted one middle-aged cat lady on her doorstep before I’d said a word. ‘Reform UK!’ she screamed louder. ‘You’re a total wanker!’ She slammed the door in my face. One night in Longsight, where nearly half the ‘locals’ weren’t born in Britain, three Muslim lads blocked the street and stared me down. One got his phone out. Others glared from windows. After hustling me back into our van and whisking me away, my security guard told me: ‘You can’t canvass here again.’ Maybe, I thought. Except I’d also like to find out what the followers of Islam think about the Green party’s plan to legalise all drugs and prostitution and teach children they can ‘change gender’. ‘I don’t know about the Muslims,’ Nigel said to me later, ‘but I hear Zack Polanski’s very popular among the crack addicts.’
Most popular
Tim Shipman
‘Whose side are you on?’: How Keir Starmer alienated Britain’s allies over Iran
A video of the final hustings went viral after people clocked who the Green candidate, Hannah ‘the plumber’ Spencer, blames for the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. Salman Abedi and his brother, who committed the worst terror atrocity in this country since 7/7? The hideous ideology of Islamism? The hapless security guard who failed to stop Abedi for fear that doing so might be considered racist? Nope. Hannah blames ‘divisive politicians’ like me.
To my surprise, the campaign also offered lessons in love. I gave a quote to a newspaper about my blossoming relationship with Eilidh Hargreaves, features director at Tatler, and how (unfortunately for her) we spent our first Valentine’s Day canvassing. The quote led to us trending on X thanks to some incel lefties who run an account called ‘Reform UK Exposed’. ‘The “Family, Community, Country” campaigner divorced only last month,’ it raged. Really? Eilidh and I met more than three years after my separation – at The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards no less. In any case, the attempted hit-job backfired as politicians and journalists rushed to our defence. ‘Ha ha!’ remarked one shrewd commentator. ‘Having an attractive and successful girlfriend will increase Goodwin’s popularity, you complete spanners.’ Indeed. I’ve tried and failed to forget another comment: ‘Goodwin is clearly punching.’
On polling day, Nigel, 1,200 Reform activists and my mum arrived to launch one of the most ambitious ‘Get Out the Vote’ operations in British political history. My optimism soon faded as anecdotes rolled in about intimidation and ‘family pressure’ at polling stations. They were confirmed by a report from the Democracy Volunteers group, which was so concerned that it took the unusual step of releasing its findings immediately after the polls closed. Illegal ‘family voting’, it said, was present in at least 15 of 22 polling stations, influencing roughly one in eight voters. I’m not surprised. Some evenings, I canvassed streets where nobody spoke a word of English. Nor was it uncommon to find a large number of foreigners living in a home that, according to the official register, was inhabited by one British couple. Nigel was rightly livid. ‘Reminds me of when I saw a guy in Oldham with a Sainsbury’s bag stuffed with 1,000 postal votes,’ he said. We agreed that a Reform government will have to prioritise electoral reform and fix our democracy.
In the end, we finished a respectable second in our 440th target seat, behind the Islamo-woke Green alliance but ahead of Labour in what’s supposed to be one of its safest seats. My former mentor Sir John Curtice pointed out that it’s only the second time since 1945 that parties other than Labour and the Tories have finished in the top two. I was further buoyed by news that, were the swing replicated at a general election, Reform would win a solid majority. And who knows? One of those future turquoise MPs might be a battle-hardened GB News presenter who earned his stripes dodging cat ladies and angry Muslims on the streets of Gorton and Denton. In fact, I’d bet big on it.
Matt will be joining The Spectator on Wednesday 29 April for our next debate, Fight on the right: Conservatives vs Reform. Register your interest here to be the first to know when tickets go live.
Comments