Labour leader Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure from his own party to change direction after a humiliating byelection defeat to the Green Party in Gorton and Denton. The Greens overturned a 13,000 Labour majority, with candidate Hannah Spencer winning the seat. Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin came second, ahead of Labour’s Angeliki Stogia.
The result, in a constituency that had voted Labour for nearly a century, has plunged the party into despair and revived talk of a leadership challenge. Even loyal ministers described the outcome as “cataclysmically bad,” while former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner called it a “wake-up call”.
Despite the calls for change, Starmer has signalled he will not shift leftwards, instead attacking the Greens as an “extreme” party akin to Reform UK. He used a TV clip and a letter to MPs to dismiss the byelection result as not repeatable in a general election.
However, internal fears are growing that Labour could face severe losses in May’s Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections and English council polls. One poll suggested Labour could fall to fourth place in Scotland, behind the SNP, Reform, and the Scottish Greens.
The sense of humiliation is compounded by Downing Street’s decision to block Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing in the byelection. Burnham, who met Starmer this week, has not ruled out a return to parliament, according to allies.
For the Greens, the victory is historic, marking their first byelection win and positioning them as a credible alternative to Reform. Spencer, in her victory speech, highlighted common ground with voters, saying: “We did this, side by side, shoulder to shoulder.”
