The video shows Spencer visiting local businesses in Gorton and Denton and attacks the party's Reform and Labour rivals, according to major media reports. It depicts Prime Minister Keir Starmer shaking hands with Indian premier Narendra Modi, who is a deeply unpopular figure in Islamic communities because he is perceived to share responsibility for deadly anti-Muslim riots during his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat. The video also depicts David Lammy shaking hands with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Additionally, the video shows Reform's candidate Matt Goodwin alongside former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon and party leader Nigel Farage alongside Trump himself, with these images superimposed with Bannon performing a Nazi salute. Spencer says in Urdu that 'politicians aren't working for us' over these images. Spencer has said the video shows the Green campaign is 'inclusive' and noted that 'thousands' of her would-be constituents speak 'languages other than English'.
I'm proud of our campaign, and of this video, which has been positive, inclusive and focused on the issues that matter most to local people: bringing down rents and bills, proper investment in public services, and rebuilding our NHS.
4% as Muslims, though there is no available data on the number of people in Gorton and Denton who speak Urdu. Labour accused the Greens of 'a shameful attempt to manipulate the respected Muslim community'. Labour MP Navendu Mishra criticized the leaflet as 'divisive'.
Reform have expressed fury over the advert, though what specific actions or statements in the video have caused Reform's fury is unclear. How the Muslim community in Gorton and Denton has responded to the Green Party's Urdu video is also unknown. In the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, Labour's Kim Leadbeater used a picture of Modi shaking hands with then-prime minister Boris Johnson in an apparent bid to court Muslim voters, and demographic targeting is common in political campaigning.
Politicians aren't working for us.
Divisive.