Rejoin EU choose Joseph O'Meachair for by-election

Joseph O'Meachair will stand for the Rejoin EU Party in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.

The party was founded in 2020 because it said the UK's exit from the European Union earlier that year "made trading with the crucial European market more complex".

O'Meachair is a member of the party's executive committee and will stand as its candidate at the by-election in Greater Manchester on 26 February.

The contest follows the resignation of the area's former MP Andrew Gwynne on health grounds.

The Rejoin EU Party said Labour's decision to deny permission to Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to stand in the by-election "appears to have thrown the contest wide open".

Labour earlier announced Angeliki Stogia, who is currently a Manchester councillor, had been selected as their candidate for the poll.

Rejoin EU said the party wanted to "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".

O'Meachair added: "Britain is being humiliated on the world stage.

"Our self-respect demands that we rejoin a strong democratic bloc to resist pressures from some nations whose only aim appears simply to be to further their own narrow self interests."

O'Meachair previously stood as the Rejoin EU candidate in Preston at the 2024 general election, gaining 216 votes. The seat was won by Labour.

A full list of candidates for Gorton and Denton can be found here and will be updated as others are declared.

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