In Greater Manchester it is the Gorton and Denton by-election on Thursday, which many are seeing as a key moment in British politics.

Gordon has warned Nigel Farage’s Reform UK will drag Britain back to the Tory poverty years. In an article for The Mirror, the ex-Labour PM said Keir Starmer’s mission to lift kids out of hardship is taking shape with the imminent lifting of the hated two-child benefit limit.

The policy will officially be abolished in April, lifting almost half a million children out of poverty.

The flip-flopping Reform chief Mr Farage previously said he would scrap the Conservative-era policy, which charities have blamed for trapping kids in poverty.

But last week alongside his new Treasury spokesman, Tory turncoat Robert Jenrick, the party said they would reinstate the policy introduced by George Osborne in full.

Mr Brown said the U-turn means Reform will “force children back into poverty” if they win power.

Ahead of the high-stakes by-election, Mr Brown highlighted that over 6,000 children in the Greater Manchester seat will benefit from scrapping the cruel measure.

He said: “When voters go to the polls in Gorton and Denton on Thursday, the fate of more than 6,000 thousand local children is in their hands. These are the boys and girls who will benefit on April 1st from the abolition of the hated two child rule.”

He added: “This by-election offers a choice.To help children continue to escape poverty with Labour’s brilliant local candidate Angeliki Stogia or go back to the Tory poverty years with Reform.”

It comes as Labour faces a fight to hold the seat from both Reform UK and the Greens, who are pouring resources into the area in the hope of delivering a major political upset.