Rejoin EU Party confirms candidate for Gorton and Denton by election

Sunday, 1 February 2026 16:39

By Adam Clark

The Rejoin EU Party has announced it will contest the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by election with executive committee member Joseph O’Meachair selected as its candidate.

They believe the contest offers voters an opportunity to back an explicitly pro-EU platform, arguing that none of the main parties standing locally are making a clear case for closer European Union membership.

The party has also criticised Labour’s handling of the selection process, claiming that internal decisions had altered the political landscape of the contest.

Mr O’Meachair lives in the North West and has begun campaigning in the constituency. He said his candidacy was intended to give voters a way to express dissatisfaction with the UK’s departure from the EU and to push for renewed membership.

“I’m standing to offer voters the opportunity to send a strong message to Keir Starmer, Labour and others – that politicians can no longer ignore the damage caused by Brexit and that we need to re-join the EU.

“Britain is being humiliated on the world stage. Our self-respect demands that we re-join a strong democratic bloc to resist pressures from some nations whose only aim appears simply to be to further their own narrow self interests.”

Rejoin EU Party chair Brendan Donnelly said the by-election should be used to demonstrate public support for reversing Brexit, adding that voters in Gorton and Denton would be able to send what he described as a clear message by backing the party’s candidate.

Mr O’Meachair previously stood for the party in Preston at the General Election in 2024, coming eighth in the 10-person ballot.