Farage rejects Polanski's request for TV debate as Gorton by-election heats up
Matt Goodwin, of Reform UK, and Hannah Spencer, from the Green Party, are said to be the frontrunners
Nigel Farage has rejected Zack Polanski's request for a TV debate ahead of a showdown between their parties at the Gorton and Denton by-election.
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Mr Farage said: "If you pick a fight with a chimney sweep you get covered in soot," when asked if he would take the Green leader, Mr Polanski, up on his offer.
The Greens are currently favourites to win the seat, which was vacated by Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, in a move which was said to allow Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to take up.
Mr Polanksi called out Mr Farage and suggested the pair debate "leader to leader," and questioned if his counterpart was "keen."
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It followed as Reform's head of policy Zia Yusuf called on Mr Polanski to take part in a live debate.
But shutting down his request, the Reform UK leader told a press conference: "No. I generally find if you pick a fight with a chimney sweep you get covered in soot, so I might just leave that alone for the moment.
"And that's the nearest to an insult I’ll ever come, all right?"
He added: "You know, he’s got a fan club – all the heroin smokers and everything think he’s absolutely marvellous. I mean, jolly good."
Mr Polanski has previously indicated he supports the legalisation of all drugs, calling for a "public health approach" while saying he has always been teetotal himself.
He accused Mr Farage of “running scared” and said the Green candidate for the Gorton and Denton race Hannah Spencer was "coming for Reform."
At the general election, Labour won the seat in Greater Manchester with more than half the vote, 18,555, with Reform coming second on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens at 4,810.
Mr Polanski, who was born and brought up in Salford, Greater Manchester, previously suggested it would be wrong for him to stand in the by-election as he has lived in London for too long.
Asked why he is not standing, he said: "I’m a Mancunian [but] I’ve been in London for about 20 years, and the Green Party really believes in nurturing local talent and really lifting up someone from the community.
"When a seat comes up in London, I’ll absolutely be going for it."