Starmer in crisis as Labour falls to third in by-election

Green Party wins Gorton and Denton seat after bitter contest, while Reform UK comes second Daily Telegraph 27/02/26 Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership has been plunged into further crisis after the Green Party swept to victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Labour was defending a commanding 13,413 majority in what should have been an easy defence in one of its safest seats. But in a tight three-way race between Labour, Reform and the Greens, Hannah Spencer secured a comfortable victory with 14,980 votes, a majority of 4,402. Ms Spencer, a Manchester plumber, becomes the Green Party’s fifth MP. On a disastrous night for Sir Keir’s party, Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia was beaten into third place by Reform. Matthew Goodwin, Reform’s candidate, won 10,578 votes, while Ms Stogia won 9,364 votes, 25.4 per cent of the vote, down from 50.8 per cent at the 2024 general election. The result shows how Labour has haemorrhaged votes to both the populist Left and Right since its landslide victory less than two years ago. Sir Keir’s personal unpopularity, his stance on Gaza, and his controversial decision to block Andy Burnham, Labour’s popular Greater Manchester Mayor, from standing are likely to be blamed for the swing to the Greens in a seat with a large Muslim population. The loss will raise fresh questions about how long the Prime Minister can cling on in Downing Street. If Labour suffers a wipeout in the local elections on May 7, Sir Keir may face a challenge to his leadership that could bring his crisis-ridden premiership to an end. The result is also likely to be the subject of a significant row after election observers claimed there had been “concerningly high levels of family voting”, an illegal practice that can involve husbands telling their wives how to vote. Democracy Volunteers said the group attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending 30 to 45 minutes in each, and witnessed family voting in 15 of them. Democracy Volunteers is run by Dr John Ault, a former Liberal Democrat politician who has observed elections in countries including Britain, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, said allegations of family voting “raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas”. After the vote, he said the “election was a victory for sectarian voting and cheating”. In her victory speech, Ms Spencer criticised “politicians and divisive figures who constantly scapegoat and blame our communities for all the problems in society”. She claimed that the country was being “bled dry” by billionaires and vowed to stand up for white working-class and Muslim constituents. “People in their thousands told me on the doorsteps and at the ballot box that what we are sick of is being let down and looked down on, that we are sick of our hard work making other people rich,” Ms Spencer said. Mr Goodwin claimed he did not win because a “coalition of Islamists and woke progressives” came together to “dominate the constituency”. Warning of a “dangerous Muslim sectarianism”, he said: “We are losing our country.” “We have only one general election left to save Britain. Vote Reform every chance you get,” Mr Goodwin added. Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, said that the Greens had “won the argument” that they were the party best placed to beat Reform, while downplaying suggestions that Mr Burnham would have won the by-election for Labour. Greens accused of peddling ‘blatant sectarianism’ On Monday, Sir Keir had visited the constituency to warn that only a vote for Labour could stop Reform. The key campaign message was designed to stop Labour haemorrhaging “progressive” votes to the Greens in an election battle where Left-leaning and Muslim voters were encouraged to “punish Labour for Gaza”. Labour was accused of a dirty tricks campaign on the eve of polling when a party leaflet was published which appeared to carry the endorsement of a fake tactical voting company. It said: “The Tactical Choice says Vote Labour.” In a letter to Ms Powell, Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused Labour of “openly lying to voters” and called on her to apologise. The Greens, who came third in Gorton and Denton in the 2024 general election with a 13.2 per cent share of the vote, were heavily criticised by both Labour and Reform for running a divisive campaign and cynically trading on sectarian politics by pushing a pro-Palestine agenda. This week the party sent out campaign leaflets featuring Ms Spencer wearing a keffiyeh scarf – associated with support for Palestine – standing in front of a mosque. The leaflets, written in Urdu, urged Gorton’s substantial Muslim population to “punish Labour for Gaza”. The Greens also circulated a video in Urdu which claimed that a win for Reform would “fuel the flames of Islamophobia”. In response, Mr Goodwin accused them of peddling “blatant sectarianism”. On the eve of polling, Sir Keir had told Gorton and Denton voters the by-election was a battle “for the soul of the nation”. He described the race as “a fight between people like me who want to fix Britain’s problems and bring communities together. And between people like Nigel Farage who only want to spread hate and grievance”. The Greens’ victory is a major boost to Mr Polanski, under whose leadership the party has significantly outflanked Labour on the Left by demanding a range of wealth taxes and accusing Israel of committing “genocide” during the war in Gaza. The Muslim Vote – a pressure group set up to support election candidates “who oppose the Conservative and Labour leadership stances on the Gaza war” – endorsed the Greens to win the Greater Manchester seat. Sir Keir is now expected to face pressure from his own backbenchers to shift further to the Left on areas such as welfare and the Government’s support for Israel. The run-up to the by-election was overshadowed by Labour infighting after the party’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, barred Mr Burnham from contesting the seat. The mayor’s allies suggested the move showed weakness from the Prime Minister who feared a potential leadership rival returning to Westminster. An opinion poll conducted in Gorton and Denton before the by-election suggested Labour would lose the seat unless Mr Burnham was the candidate. The Gorton and Denton constituency was created in 2024 after a boundary review of all seats. However, both Manchester Gorton and Denton and Reddish – the two seats it was created from – had been safe Labour seats for decades. The loss comes against the backdrop of a disastrous start to the year for the Prime Minister. The release of the Epstein files exposed the depths of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and raised fresh doubts about the Prime Minister’s political judgment in appointing the peer as ambassador to the US. Amid mounting anger over the scandal, Sir Keir was this month forced to admit that he knew about Lord Mandelson’s friendship with the paedophile at the time of his appointment. The crisis led to the resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir’s chief of staff, and Tim Allan, his director of communications, also quit after just a few months in the post. It also led to calls from Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, for the Prime Minister to resign. Sir Keir managed to salvage his political future after ordering his Cabinet ministers to publicly declare support for him.