Parliament confirms Gorton by-election will not take place

The Manchester Gorton parliamentary by-election scheduled for Thursday May 4 will not take place, parliament has confirmed.

The House of Commons has approved a motion to supersede the original writ which set the date of the by-election, allowing the Returning Officer to cancel it.

Instead, the vote to elect a new MP to the Manchester Gorton constituency will now take place on Thursday, June 8 as part of the general election.

Gorton was the seat left vacant following the death of long-standing Labour MP sir Gerald Kaufman.

Joanne Roney (acting) returning officer for Manchester, said: “I welcome the fact that this situation has now been resolved. We always knew common sense would prevail but our expert advice made it clear that as Returning Officer I did not have the legal power to change the date of the Manchester Gorton by-election. Now that Parliament has acted I am able to do so.”

The elections for the first ever Mayor of Greater Manchester, and the Manchester City Council by-election to elect a new councillor to the Rusholme ward, go ahead as planned on the May 4.