Reform UK is currently under police investigation in the Gorton and Denton constituency following the distribution of election material that failed to include a legally required imprint. The letter, endorsing Reform UK's candidate Matthew Goodwin for the upcoming by-election, purportedly came from a local resident named Patricia Clegg, a 74-year-old pensioner and former Labour voter struggling with bills. Numerous residents complained after receiving the letter, alleging a breach of electoral law, prompting Greater Manchester Police to confirm an investigation.

The Electoral Commission mandates that all printed material promoting a candidate in an election must include an 'imprint' identifying the promoter and printer. The absence of this marker on the Reform UK letter constitutes an offence, which the Electoral Commission stated is enforceable by local police. Patricia Clegg's letter described a choice between 'more broken promises for Keir Starmer or real change,' urging a vote for Matthew Goodwin, who 'grew up in Manchester' and would 'stand up for local people.' She also articulated dissatisfaction with Labour, citing tax rises affecting pensioners, and dismissed Green Party policies as extreme, questioning their benefit to people like her.

Hardings Print Solutions Limited, the Middlesex-based firm responsible for printing the letters, has issued an apology to Reform UK and the residents of the constituency. The company admitted to an error in production, stating that the artwork supplied by Reform UK correctly included the legally required imprint. However, the imprint was 'inadvertently removed during the final trimming stage' due to an internal error at Hardings Printers, which went unnoticed before distribution. Hardings Print Solutions has taken full responsibility for the oversight, clarifying that Reform UK neither requested nor authorized the removal of the imprint.

A spokesperson for Reform UK corroborated this, stating that the campaign had commissioned the letter from a local constituent and provided it to their print contractor with a 'full and correct legal imprint,' compliant with election law. They confirmed that print-ready proofs, approved by the campaign, clearly featured the legal imprint. Reform UK maintains that the omission arose 'solely from a supplier error after compliant materials had been submitted and approved,' and that the campaign was unaware of, did not authorize, and did not intend the distribution of material without a legal imprint. The spokesperson also reiterated Patricia Clegg's stance as a local pensioner who believes voting Reform is the best way to remove Keir Starmer from power.

Patricia Clegg herself confirmed to The Guardian that she is a member of Reform UK and had been asked by the party to write the letter, stating, 'I said, ‘Yeah’, and I left the rest to them.' She was not aware that the letter lacked the legally required imprint. The Gorton and Denton by-election, scheduled for February 26, was triggered by the resignation of former MP Andrew Gwynne and features 11 candidates. The constituency is described as experiencing a 'long-festering sense of fury that Labour has no idea how to tackle.'

The incident has sparked strong reactions from other parties. A Green Party spokesperson accused Reform of 'playing dirty,' suggesting that despite their funding, they fail to follow the law. Labour's campaign political lead, Andrew Western MP, emphasized that campaigns are responsible for their distributed material, stating that 'Blaming a printer doesn’t remove that responsibility or excuse the failure to meet basic legal requirements.' The by-election is anticipated to be a tight contest among Labour, the Greens, and Reform UK.