𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has broken his silence after Labour’s devastating defeat in the Gorton & Denton by-election. Asked if he had considered resigning, Sir Keir Starmer said he would “keep on fighting” for the people who needed a Labour government. Speaking to reporters, he acknowledged it was a “disappointing” result and that voters were “frustrated”, but insisted he would carry on. 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.”

Sir Keir also pledged to “fight against extremes in politics” on both the left and the right that threatened to “tear our country apart”. Labour suffered a humiliating defeat in the Greater Manchester seat, where it received more than 50% of the votes in the 2024 general election. The Green Party has won its first ever parliamentary by-election as the candidate Hannah Spencer, a councillor and plumber, emerged victorious to become the party’s fifth MP. Reform came second, with Labour’s Angeliki Stogia trailing on 9,364, down from 18,555 in the 2024 general election.

It followed the decision from Labour’s National Executive Committee, including Sir Keir, to bar Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing as Labour’s candidate.

The result has raised fresh questions about Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. Labour MP Brian Leishman called for Sir Keir to resign and said voters had rejected the “bad judgement calls” of the Prime Minister and his advisers.

Mr Leishman said: “The Prime Minister has taken our Labour Party in the wrong direction by trying to out-Reform, Reform.

“We need to be a proper Labour government and live by real Labour Party values. He has proved that he is not the leader that can and will do that. He has to go for the good of Scotland, the UK and the party.”

The general secretary of the Labour-affiliated TSSA union has demanded Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation.

Maryam Eslamdoust said: “It’s clear that the disastrous lurch to the right under Keir Starmer is haemorrhaging Labour votes to the Greens.

“There’s an urgent need for a change in leadership and Keir must announce his departure immediately.

“However, a simple change in leader will not be enough. Labour must rediscover its radical soul and start to deliver for the British public by extending public ownership of key industries like water, energy, and mail, as well as substantially increasing the minimum wage for all workers.”

Angela Rayner, Labour’s former deputy leader who is now seen as a possible future leader, didn’t call for Sir Keir to resign but issued a damning verdict. She said: “This result must be a wake up call. It’s time to really listen – and to reflect.

“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.

“A labour agenda that puts people first. That’s what all of us across our movement need to rededicate ourselves to this morning.”

A Labour-affiliated union chief said “the game will be up” for Sir Keir Starmer unless he changes course before May’s local elections.

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright said: “Labour’s entire strategy of framing politics as ‘it’s us v Reform’ is in tatters after its very first electoral test.”

A Labour group called Mainstream, which is backed by a number of MPs – and by Mr Burnham – called for a “reset”. It said: “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.”

“This loss was avoidable. Angeliki, members and our party staff worked tirelessly, but our leader and sections of the NEC blocked the one candidate who could have won it for us. That decision now looks like a catastrophic error.

“We need an immediate and fundamental reset now.”

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The leader of the biggest union affiliated to Labour said the byelection defeat was a “wake-up call” for the party.

Writing on social media, Sharon Graham of Unite said: “If Labour needed any further wake up calls – this is clearly one. Labour need to now ditch the gimmicks and get back to being Labour – not new, not one that plays games, but real Labour.

“Workers and families are hurting. We have a cost-of-living crisis largely being ignored and investment in jobs for the here-and-now being blocked by a Treasury that doesn’t seem to understand the basics of what is needed to build Britain.

“Stop listening your rich mates and start listening to everyday people.”

The Green Party winning the Gorton and Denton by-election is “catastrophic” and “couldn’t be any worse” for the Labour Party, an MP has said.

Labour MP Karl Turner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well it’s catastrophic, isn’t it? I mean, that’s the truth. It couldn’t be any worse.

“Having the Greens in Manchester is the worst result we could have expected or we wanted, frankly.

“But you know, the reality is, Burnham was blocked. He shouldn’t have been, in my view.”