Manchester, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party lost the Gorton and Denton parliamentary seat in Greater Manchester, a constituency it had dominated for almost a century. The defeat added pressure on Starmer amid political turmoil and calls for him to resign.
Green Party win and vote shares
The Green Party’s Hannah Spencer won the contest for the vacant seat. Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party came second, while Labour finished third.
The Green Party won 40.7% of the vote, Reform UK received 28.7%, and Labour won 25.4%. The election was triggered when a member of parliament resigned for health reasons.
Labour reaction and campaign decisions
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said the result was “clearly disappointing”.
Starmer had staked his personal authority on Labour winning the seat by blocking Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing and by visiting the constituency during the campaign.
Political backdrop and pressure on Starmer
The loss was described as underscoring the breakdown of Britain’s two-party politics and was Labour’s biggest electoral test in almost a year.
The defeat followed a period in which Starmer faced calls to resign over his decision to appoint Labour veteran Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, despite Mandelson’s links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Labour had won just over half the vote in Gorton and Denton at the 2024 general election, but Starmer’s unpopularity, sluggish economic growth, and a series of scandals and policy U-turns were cited as contributing to a fall in the party’s support. Labour lawmakers said before the vote that Starmer was unlikely to face an immediate threat to his position if Labour lost.
How do you think this by-election result will affect Labour’s approach ahead of the May elections?