Lee Anderson shared photos of himself campaigning for the Gorton and Denton by-election outside Stanley House Function Rooms – which is in the wrong constituency
09:45, 27 Jan 2026Updated 09:53, 27 Jan 2026
Lee Anderson shared a photo of himself and activists outside Stanley House Function Rooms – which is in the wrong constituency(Image: )
Lee Anderson has been lampooned after gleefully sharing photos of himself campaigning ahead of a by-election – in the wrong constituency.
The Reform chief whip shared photos of himself and activists outside Stanley House Function Rooms ahead of the vote in Gorton and Denton. Unfortunately the building is actually in Angela Rayner’s Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.
Mr Anderson wrote: “Gorton & Denton. A cold but productive day in what will be a hotly contested seat. Reform UK fear no party. Bring it on.”
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Angela Rayner mocked Mr Anderson over the blunder(Image: )
After spotting the location, Ms Rayner told The Mirror : “Farage’s Reform can’t even find the Gorton and Denton constituency on a map. Perhaps it’s because they’re too busy filling their party full of former Tories who failed the country.
“Local residents in Gorton and Denton deserve a local MP who is focussed on delivering on local residents’ priorities like tackling the cost of living. That’s what Labour will be speaking to voters about every day on streets across Gorton and Denton while Farage gets round to finally learning how to use Google maps and actually work out where they live.”
Mr Anderson shared the photos on Saturday. A Boundary Commission map shows Stanley House Function Rooms are around half a kilometre outside the constituency that will be contested. A search on the Parliamentary website confirms the building is in Ms Rayner’s constituency.
Angela Rayner urged Reform to learn to use Google maps(Image: Getty Images)
Ms Rayner made the remark after calamity ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman was unveiled as Nigel Farage’s most recent defector. She joins Tory turncoats Robert Jenrick, Andrew Rosindell, Danny Kruger and Mr Anderson on the Reform benches.
The Mirror has contacted Reform UK for comment. The by-election – set for February 26 – was called after suspended Labour MP Andrew Gwynne announced he was stepping down for health reasons. He was sacked as a minister and suspended from the Labour Party last year over offensive messages in a WhatsApp group named Trigger Me Timbers.
He said last week: “It has been the honour of my life to have been an elected representative for almost exactly three decades, representing my home community firstly as a Denton West Councillor on Tameside Council and then in the House of Commons as MP for Denton and Reddish and more recently for Gorton and Denton”
Mr Gwynne said he had “suffered significant ill-health over most of the 21 years I’ve served as an MP”, which had been “greatly exacerbated by the impact of last year’s events regarding leaked text messages”. He shared a message from his GP about his ongoing health problems which read: “I do not think that he will be able to safely return to work as an MP.”
The building is not in Gorton and Denton(Image: )
His resignation from Parliament fuelled speculation that Andy Burnham would be on his way back to Westminster. But at the weekend Labour’s National Executive Committee rejected his bid to become the candidate in the by-election.
Keir Starmer appealed for unity ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election saying Labour MPs “all need to line up together” in the fight against Mr Farage’s Reform UK. He argued triggering a by-election for a new Mayor of Greater Manchester would divert resources from other important elections in the spring.
On Monday, Mr Burnham insisted he had said “everything I’m going to say” as he declined to comment further on the row engulfing the party. He said: “I’m very much focused on my job. I think I’m just going to leave it there, if that’s okay.” He also urged Labour MPs “come up to Manchester” ahead of next month’s by-election.
Attempting to downplay the rift between him and the so-called King of the North, Mr Starmer said on Monday that Mr Burnham is “doing a great job as the Mayor of Manchester”.
But he warned: “Having an election for the Mayor of Manchester when it’s not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have, that we must fight and win, and resources, whether that’s money or people, need to be focused on the elections that we must have, not elections that we don’t have to have.”