Reform
and Tories report ‘family voting’ allegations to watchdog
Nigel
Farage says his party was victim of ‘cheating’ in Gorton and Denton byelection,
although Manchester council says no issues reported
Peter
Walker and Hannah Al-Othman
Fri 27
Feb 2026 16.00 GMT
Reform UK
and the Conservatives have asked the elections watchdog to investigate
allegations of corrupt voting in the Gorton and Denton byelection as Nigel
Farage claimed there had been “cheating”, despite limited evidence of
wrongdoing.
The
reports to the Electoral Commission come after an election observers group,
Democracy Volunteers, said they had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of
so-called family voting, where one family member dictates how others cast their
ballot.
One
previous election observer for the group said it would be important to know the
methodology behind the group’s claim that 12% of observed voters were involved
in family voting, given that there was a “grey line” as to what precisely that
meant.
The
group’s report, published as soon as the polls closed on Thursday night, has
given impetus to claims by defeated parties of wrongdoing, with Farage
part-echoing Donald Trump’s complaints about stolen elections by saying his
party was the victim of “sectarian voting and cheating”.
Reform’s
chair, David Bull, said later this did not mean the outcome of the election had
been changed.
In a
subsequent video post, however, Farage indicated that he thought it did,
calling the result “a victory for cheating in elections”.
Farage
later said he had contacted police and the Electoral Commission about the
allegations of family voting: “What was witnessed yesterday is deeply
concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic
process in predominantly Muslim areas.
“If this
is what was happening at polling stations, just imagine the potential for
coercion with postal votes.”
James
Cleverly, the Conservatives’ shadow communities secretary, announced that he
had done the same. Citing the Democracy Volunteers report, he said: “This is
clear evidence that electoral offences were committed, and a blind eye was
turned to corruption and criminal activity.”
In her
own response to the Gorton and Denton result, which saw the Conservatives
finish fourth with just over 700 votes, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory party leader,
blamed Labour, the Greens and Reform for “grievance politics”.
She
wrote: “If you stir up grievance politics between groups based on religion or
race, as Labour have done for decades, as Reform are seeking to do, and as the
Greens have done successfully in this byelection, you are pitting neighbours
against each other and you start to unravel the culture of tolerance that makes
Britain great.”
After
Democracy Volunteers raised concerns over family voting, Manchester city
council said no issues had been reported and that it was “extremely
disappointing” that the group had waited until after the polls closed to make
the claims.
The
Electoral Commission said observers were expected to raise irregularities or
incidents of potential fraud at the polls “on the spot”.
However,
John Ault, director of Democracy Volunteers, said it was “a normal
international standard not to issue a comment until after voting has finished”.
A
previous election observer for the group said that those in the role were
actively told not to report any concerns on the day, and that family voting was
something they were told to look out for.
During
their time volunteering, the person said: “I saw one example but it was a
family member helping their elderly relative into the booth, so this is where
the grey line is as what actually is family voting.”
“I’d be
interested in their methodology of what constitutes family voting, as the
example above makes me wonder what is being reported,” they added.
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