Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on as prime minster in the face of mounting dissent from within his own ranks, as the Labour Party erupts into civil war over its devastating by-election defeat in Gorton and Denton.
Zack Polanski declared a historic victory in the former Labour stronghold on Friday morning, with the Green Party leader claiming the result will “transform the face of British politics”.
The party’s newest MP, plumber Hannah Spencer, said the victory meant there is “no part of the country where the Green Party cannot win”, igniting fears within Labour that they could face further crushing electoral defeats at the hands of the left.
Sir Keir vowed to “keep fighting” on Friday morning, but faces questions over the future of his premiership as Labour MPs cast doubt over his ability to lead the country and steer the party to success in the polls.
Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who is among the candidates tipped to replace Sir Keir, called for a change in direction for the party following the catastrophic result, while MPs have called on the prime minister to step down “for the good of the UK and the party”.
“This result must be a wake-up call. It’s time to really listen – and to reflect,” Ms Rayner said in a coded message after the defeat.
“Voters want the change that we promised – and they voted for. If we want to unrig the system, if we want to make the change we were sent into government to make, we have to be braver.”
The Mainstream Labour group, which is backed by Andy Burnham, has called for an “immediate and fundamental reset”, adding: “The Gorton and Denton result is an absolute disaster for Labour. Clearly, we now risk no longer being seen as the natural home for progressive voters.”
The grouping said the loss was “avoidable”, saying it was a “catastrophic error” to block the Manchester mayor from standing, echoing Labour MP Chris Curtis who said he is “almost certain” Mr Burnham would have won.
He told BBC Radio 4: “When you have a result like this, going about business as usual just is not going to cut it.”
The mounting backlash comes as:
- Hannah Spencer claimed victory in the Green Party’s first ever win in a parliamentary by-election.
- Labour slumped to third place with over 5,000 votes less than the greens, despite having won the constituency in 2024 with more than half the vote.
- Labour MPs hit out at their leader after the “catastrophic” result, with a number publicly calling on the prime minister to resign.
- The prime minister spoke out hours after the Greens declared victory, ignoring calls to resign and vowing to “keep on fighting”.
- Green leader Zack Polanski said the result would “transform the face of British politics”, while newly-elected MP Ms Spencer said it meant there is “no part of the country where the Green Party cannot win”.
Speaking to The Independent, Labour MP Brian Leishman called on Sir Keir to go “for the good of the UK and the party”, while an unnamed MP from the party told Sky News the prime minister “must own this catastrophe”.
Labour MP Karl Turner told BBC’s Today programme: “It’s catastrophic, isn’t it? That’s the truth. It couldn’t be any worse.”
Meanwhile, the boss of one of Britain’s biggest trade unions has told Sir Keir to “stop listening to your rich mates”, calling on Labour to “ditch the gimmicks and get back to being Labour”.
“If Labour needed any further wake-up calls – this is clearly one,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.
“Labour need to now ditch the gimmicks and get back to being Labour – not new, not one that plays games, but real Labour.”
The leader of the union, which is a financial donor to the Labour Party, added: “Stop listening to your rich mates and start listening to everyday people.”
But Sir Keir stood firm in his position at the helm hours after the “catastrophic” result in the former Labour safe seat.
Asked if he had considered resigning, Sir Keir said: “I came into politics late in life to fight for change for those people who need it.
“I will keep on fighting for those people for as long as I’ve got breath in my body.”
In a letter sent to all Labour MPs on Friday, Sir Keir blamed the Green Party’s victory on what he described as embracing “divisive” politics of George Galloway, and insisted they could not beat Labour in a general election.
“We’ve seen the true colours of Zack Polanski’s Greens in this campaign,” he wrote, accusing Ms Spencer of being “more interested in dividing people than uniting them”.
He added: “It cannot survive a general election campaign.”
But the victory undermines Labour’s claim that it is the only option to beat Reform UK at the polls, with Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell earlier admitting the Greens had won the “argument that they were best placed” to keep Nigel Farage’s party out of Gorton and Denton.
The victory is the Greens’ first-ever in a parliamentary by-election and comes despite Labour having won the north west constituency in 2024 with more than half the vote.
The Green Party’s Hannah Spencer received 14,980 votes, while Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin came second with 10,578, leaving Labour slumped in third place with 9,364 votes.
In an emotional victory speech, Ms Spencer said people were being “bled dry” and were “sick of our hard work making other people rich”.
Meanwhile, the Conservative’s lost their deposit as they came a distant fourth with just 706 votes, marking their worst ever by-election result.
Ignoring the disastrous outcome, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch hit out at Sir Keir, saying: “He is in office but not in power. If he had any integrity he would go.”
The Green Party accused Nigel Farage, who did not attend the count alongside his candidate Matt Goodwin, of undermining the result of the poll after he claimed that there was “sectarian voting and cheating” in the election.
The reform UK leader made the remarks in reference to a warning from election observer group Democracy Volunteers who said it had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of family voting – an illegal practice where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting.
Manchester City Council said no issues had been reported and said it was “extremely disappointing” that Democracy Volunteers waited until after the close of polls to make the claims.
But the group’s director John Ault told the Press Association that it “is a normal international standard not to issue a comment until after a voting has finished” and that “we posed questions about family voting in several polling stations”.
