PM vows to ‘keep fighting’ after Greens sweep past Labour and Reform to win byelection – as it happened
Key events
Closing summary
Labour MPs and ministers react to party’s by-election failure
Cleverly calls for inquiry into voter fraud
How Gorton and Denton compares with other byelections – in three charts
Reform UK says it is reporting ‘family voting’ allegations to police and Electoral Commission
Labour faces struggle to win second place in Holyrood elections, poll suggests
Greens claim they could win more than 100 seats at next election on basis of Gorton and Denton-type swing
Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan suggests Starmer should go because he’s ‘block to us winning’
Farage claims Green party win in Gorton and Denton evidence of ‘resurgent hard left’
Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander says byelection result shows Labour needs to go ‘further and faster’ delivering change
Hannah Spencer – who she is, and full text of her victory speech
Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?
Did Starmer get the message? – snap verdict on PM’s response to byelection defeat
Starmer describes Greens as ‘the extreme of the left’ in response to byelection defeat
Leishman says byelection result shows Anas Sarwar right to say Starmer should quit
Starmer calls byelection result ‘very disappointing’, but claims mid-term defeats like this not unusual
Polanski says, even with Andy Burnham as Labour’s candidate, Greens could have won
Polanski claims Greens have more members than Labour if Scotland included
Polanski accuses Starmer of trivialising serious issue with drugs policy attacks, saying public ‘more mature’ on this
Hannah Spencer says voters in Gorton and Denton have ‘rejected hate’ and embraced hope
Zack Polanski and Hannah Spencer hold press conference
Labour MP Brian Leishman calls for Starmer to resign
Rayner says byelection defeat shows Labour needs to be ‘braver’
SNP claims Labour now facing ‘historic defeat’ in Scotland
Labour MP Jon Trickett says Starmer should ‘reflect on his position’ following byelection defeat
Plaid Cymru welcomes Gorton and Denton byelection result as evidence ‘old guard’ parties are ‘slipping away’
Heidi Alexander says Britons don’t want Polanski as PM, and Green policies won’t ‘survive contact with national electorate’
Heidi Alexander says it’s ‘offensive’ for Unite boss Sharon Graham to claim ministers obsessed with their ‘rich mates’
Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham tells Starmer to stop listening to ‘rich mates’ and govern as ‘real Labour’
‘We’re working to line pockets of billionaires’ – Hannah Spencer’s victory speech
Reform UK chair David Bull says his party accepts legitimacy of byelection result – after Farage earlier alleged ‘cheating’
Heidi Alexander urges Labour not to ‘over-interpret result’ and says party can recover from this defeat
Polanski rejects claim Greens were being sectarian in using picture of Starmer with Modi in byelection leaflet
Polanski says Gorton and Denton win shows there are now ‘no no-go areas’ for Greens
Labour MP says result ‘catastrophic’ and Starmer should revert to Corbynite agenda that won him party leadership
Labour has ‘fallen into electoral Valley of Death’ – what polling experts are saying about Gorton and Denton result
Labour MP Richard Burgon says ‘Starmer and his clique’ to blame for Labour’s defeat
Greens dismiss Farage’s response to Spencer’s win as Trump-style attempt to undermine democratic result
Labour ‘failing on every count’ under Starmer, says Unison leader Andrea Egan in call for party to shift left
Labour had 13th highest fall in support in byelection, says John Curtice, and Tories had worst ever byelection result
Losing Reform UK candidate Matt Goodwin claims result evidence of ‘dangerous Muslim sectarianism’ in UK
Polanski says many ex-Labour voters will never return to Starmer’s party, and Greens best party to defeat Reform
Full results in Gorton and Denton byelection
Labour says result ‘clearly disappointing’
Lucy Powell backs Starmer to stay as PM and Labour leader, saying he’s ‘right person’ for job
Farage claims Green party win was ‘victory for sectarian voting and cheating’
Hannah Spencer hits out at Reform UK with attack on ‘divisive’ figures who scapegoat Muslims
Tories claim result shows ‘Starmer has killed Labour party’
Green party’s Hannah Spencer wins byelection
Powell appears to concede Labour defeat
Welcome
Closing summary
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Keir Starmer has vowed to “keep on fighting” despite Labour’s humiliating defeat in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Speaking to reporters, he acknowledged it was a “disappointing” result and that voters were “frustrated”, but insisted he would carry on. Asked if he had considered resigning, Starmer 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.”
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Starmer doubled down on the anti-Green party language he was using during the byelection campaign. Referring to Reform UK and the Greens, he said: “We were fighting the extremes of the right and the extremes of the left.”
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At a rally in Manchester celebrating his party’s victory, Green leader Zack Polanski said the result was “an existential crisis for the Labour party”. He said: “No longer can they try and scare people into saying they have to vote for something because they’re worried about the least-worst option. A vote for the Greens is a vote both to stop Reform, to stop Labour and for something hopeful and a plan.”
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In a pointed comment, Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister and a key figure on Labour’s left, called the result “a wake-up call”, calling for her colleagues to “be braver” and “rededicate” themselves to “a Labour agenda that puts people first”.
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, whose candidate came a distant fourth with just 706 votes, said the result “shows Keir Starmer’s premiership is finished”. She added: “He is in office but not in power. If he had any integrity he would go.”
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Labour MP Clive Lewis has called for a “clean break” for the party after the Gorton and Denton byelection, describing the defeat as “a punch in the face”. The Norwich South MP, a prominent left-wing critic of the current leadership, said: “The byelection result is a punch in the face for the Labour Party and for Keir Starmer’s premiership. This government has burned its base, alienated its core vote, sidelined its activists and stuck two fingers up to the very people we came into politics to represent – and we’re surprised voters are walking away?”
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Greater Manchester Police has said it is “in the process of reviewing” a report about possible “family voting” in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Reform UK made a report to the police about the illegal practice, where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting, after election observer group Democracy Volunteers warned it had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of it.
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The shadow local government minister, James Cleverly, has written to the Electoral Commission requesting a fully inquiry into reports of breaches of electoral law in Gorton and Denton. In his letter, which was shared on social media, he said: “There is clear evidence that electoral offences were committed, and a blind eye was turned to corruption and criminal activity.”
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Muslim organisations and campaigners have criticised comments made by Reform figures following the Gorton and Denton by-election, warning that language about “sectarian” voting risks stigmatising British Muslims. Shaista Aziz, co-director of the anti-racism organisation Three Hijabis, said: “Within moments of the by-election result, there was conflation of paedophile gangs and Muslim voters and so-called family voting. It was immediate. It is disgusting and deeply irresponsible. This is Trumpism turbocharged in the UK.”
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Anas Sarwar has made clear he has to persuade voters who dislike the Labour party but are equally angry with the Scottish National Party’s unimpressive record in government if he is win May’s Holyrood election. Speaking to reporters after a speech at a one day conference in Paisley, he said some voters should “hold their nose” and use Labour on a tactical basis to oust the SNP.
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The leader of Plaid Cymru has claimed the Welsh parliament elections in May will be a straight fight between his party and Reform UK, which he billed as a choice between “culture or ignorance, humanity or indifference”. Rhun ap Iorwerth, the clear favourite to be the next Welsh first minister, said the Gorton and Denton byelection showed Labour and the Tories were “slipping away”, and he promised Plaid had a radical plan to boost Wales’ fortunes.
When Labour’s Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, urged Keir Starmer to stand down two weeks ago, Starmer’s closest advisers presented him a choice: fight, flight or hand over his destiny to his party by calling a leadership contest.
The prime minister chose the first option and his Downing Street team sprung into action to contain the threat. At the moment of greatest peril for Starmer, MPs peered over the precipice and didn’t like what they saw.
In the fortnight since, not much has changed. Even with Labour’s humiliating defeat in the Gorton and Denton byelection, where it was pushed into third place behind the Greens and Reform UK, the uneasy truce has persisted.
“It’s not working but I don’t see what the alternative is,” one cabinet minister told the Guardian. A senior party figure described MPs as “dejected, doomful but not mutinous”. A Labour MP characterised the situation as “stalemate – for now”.
Starmer’s allies are determined to make the most of what is likely to be a brief hiatus. “Keir is stronger for MPs having stepped back from the abyss. They know a contest would unleash more chaos and their constituents would hate it,” one said.
The leader of Plaid Cymru has claimed the Welsh parliament elections in May will be a straight fight between his party and Reform UK, which he billed as a choice between “culture or ignorance, humanity or indifference”.
Speaking at the party’s biggest ever conference, Rhun ap Iorwerth, the clear favourite to be the next Welsh first minister, said the Gorton and Denton byelection showed Labour and the Tories were “slipping away”, and he promised Plaid had a radical plan to boost Wales’ fortunes.
He said that while the Greens had done well to win in Greater Manchester, he was confident voters in Wales looking for a progressive alternative would turn to Plaid.
During the leader’s speech in Newport, south-east Wales, ap Iorwerth highlighted plans such as setting up 10 surgical hubs to tackle NHS waiting lists, and making sure every school has a library.
He said that on Saturday the party, which is comfortably leading the polls, would reveal a blueprint for its first 100 days in power after the Senedd elections.
Greater Manchester Police has said it is “in the process of reviewing” a report about possible “family voting” in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Reform UK made a report to the police about the illegal practice, where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting, after election observer group Democracy Volunteers warned it had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of it.
Greater Manchester Police said:
We can confirm a report has been made. We are in the process of reviewing this report and will provide a further update in due course.
In a stunning setback for Labour, the Green party has decisively won the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Reform UK finishing second.
Does this result signal the end of Labour’s safe seats? And could it mark the beginning of the end for Keir Starmer?
John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey unpack the fallout – and explore what might happen next…
It could have been a flash of arrogance. Hubris for the ages. On Thursday morning, at a time when most pundits were still calling the Gorton and Denton byelection a three-way fight that was impossible to call, the Green party sent out a note to journalists.
Come along to the first press conference of Hannah Spencer MP tomorrow. And while you’re about it, stay on to join her for her first constituency surgery. What could possibly go wrong? As it happens … absolutely nothing.
In the end it wasn’t even close, with the Greens getting 40% of the vote and Reform trailing a long way behind in second on 28%. Labour came a distant third on 25%. About the worst possible result for them, the idea that they were the only progressive party on the left that could defeat Reform in tatters. For the Greens, this was a night of undiluted triumph. The first byelection victory in their history. In a seat they had never previously targeted. Life couldn’t be more sweet.
Spencer’s acceptance speech was endearingly down to earth. She had never considered herself a politician. She was a plumber who had recently qualified as a plasterer. If things don’t turn out quite how she hopes as an MP, she will still have a job for life in Westminster. The toilets there are in a truly shocking state and the buildings are falling to pieces. Let’s hope she remembers her hard hat when she is sworn in on Monday.
Reform UK and the Conservatives have asked the elections watchdog to investigate allegations of corrupt voting in the Gorton and Denton byelection as Nigel Farage claimed there had been “cheating”, despite limited evidence of wrongdoing.
The reports to the Electoral Commission come after an election observers group, Democracy Volunteers, said they had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of so-called family voting, where one family member effectively dictates how others cast their ballot.
One previous election observer for the group said it would be important to know the methodology behind the group’s claim that 12% of observed voters were involved in family voting, given that there was a “grey line” as to what precisely that meant.
The group’s report, published as soon as the polls closed on Thursday night, has given impetus to claims of wrongdoing by defeated parties, with Farage part-echoing Donald Trump’s complaints about stolen elections by saying his party was the victim of “sectarian voting and cheating”.
Reform’s chair, David Bull, said later this did not mean the outcome of the election had been changed.
Anas Sarwar has made clear he has to persuade voters who dislike the Labour party but are equally angry with the Scottish National Party’s unimpressive record in government if he is win May’s Holyrood election.
Speaking to reporters after a speech at a one day conference in Paisley, he said some voters should “hold their nose” and use Labour on a tactical basis to oust the SNP.
He told reporters he needed to build a temporary coalition of voters to stand a chance of defeating the SNP on 7 May, arguing a significant majority of Scottish voters were opposed to the SNP.
He said a Scottish Election Study poll out on Friday which put Scottish Labour fourth on 14% also showed the SNP were backed by only 35% of voters. He insisted his party had repeatedly defied poll forecasts that Labour would badly lose Scottish by elections and national elections, under his leadership.
The Scottish Election Study ‘Scoop’ poll of 1,500 voters, carried out by YouGov, found that only 23% of respondents believed the SNP was doing a good job in office compared to 40% in the first Scoop survey in December 2021. Sarwar believes that figure shows the SNP can be beaten.
He said:
My focus in the next 10 weeks is to make sure we change the first minister. The point I’m making to people across the country is, if we recognise, and I think there is a clear majority in this country that want to remove the SNP from office. I think that’s clear.
And you’re right to suggest that there’s a deep unpopularity with the UK Labour government, but there’s a clear majority in Scotland that want the SNP out of office. And what I’m seeing is that the only people that can remove the SNP from office are me and Scottish Labour. There’s only two people that can be first minister of the election; John Swinney or I.
So I’m saying directly to people, if you want to get rid of the SNP, then whether you do it with enthusiasm, whether you do it with anger, or whether you hold your nose and do it, you have to back Scottish Labour, and you have to vote for me, because only I can remove them from office.
Labour MPs and ministers react to party’s by-election failure
As prime minister Keir Starmer comes under renewed pressure following Labour’s by-election capitulation, key figures across the party have voiced their opinions.
Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner posted on X:
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.
Meanwhile, Clive Lewis called for a “clean break” after the Gorton and Denton by-election, describing the defeat as “a punch in the face”.
He told the Press Association:
The by-election result is a punch in the face for the Labour party and for Keir Starmer’s premiership. This government has burned its base, alienated its core vote, sidelined its activists and stuck two fingers up to the very people we came into politics to represent – and we’re surprised voters are walking away?
Changing the leader without changing the politics would be a waste of time. The problem isn’t presentation. It’s direction. We promised change and delivered continuity. We talk tough but govern timid. We protect vested interests when we should be taking them on.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the government will “reflect and learn from” Labour’s defeat. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the result makes her “even more determined” to “deliver change”.
She added:
You would expect me to say that as a member of the Cabinet, but it makes me even more determined than I have ever been to deliver the change that the country voted for in 2024 and that is an economy where we’ve got investment coming in, where our public services are of a standard that the public deserve and rightly expect, and where we provide opportunity for all.
Douglas Alexander, the Scotland secretary, has said Keir Starmer needs to “move further and faster” to address voter anger over his government’s policies after a “tough and disappointing” by election result for Labour.
He said:
Well, of course it’s a tough and disappointing result for Labour. I’ve seen by elections, I’ve won some and I’ve lost some. Of course, governments tend to lose by elections, but we’ll take time to reflect and consider what this means.
My own sense this morning is that we need to move further and faster in delivering the change that people want to see. Given the depth of frustration that voters feel about the challenges they continue to face.
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has told his party conference he would “stand up to Keir Starmer” if he becomes first minister of Wales in May.
He said:
We offer hope, hope that can overcome people’s fears of other political forces leading Wales down a dark path.
And hope that, finally, Wales will have a government willing to stand up to Keir Starmer, to [Welsh secretary] Jo Stevens and anyone else denying our nation the fairness it deserves.
Westminster treats Wales with contempt with such alarming frequency it’s sometimes difficult to keep up.
He added:
From day one, as your first minister, I would work to reset the relationship between Welsh and UK governments – a relationship characterised now as one of disrespect, disinterest and at times, it seems, wilful ignorance.
My first conversation with the UK prime minister would set out a commitment to working constructively and cordially. But it would also set out my clear expectation that the will of the people of Wales must no longer be ignored.
As a plumber and recently qualified plasterer, the newly elected Green MP for Gorton and Denton, Hannah Spencer, has said that when she enters Parliament she ‘will make space for everyone doing jobs like mine’. She joins a short list of MPs from semi-skilled or skilled manual backgrounds, most from the Labour party and most of them men.
The mining industry has been well represented: Keir Hardie, Labour’s first parliamentary leader; Aneurin Bevan (Labour), noted as the driving force behind the creation of the NHS; and the firebrand Labour MP Dennis Skinner were all miners.
Lee Anderson, another former miner, was a member of the Labour party before becoming a Conservative MP, later defecting to Reform UK.
John Prescott (Labour) was a ship steward in the merchant navy before entering politics, going on to be deputy prime minister.
Alan Johnson was a postman and union leader before he became a Labour MP and home secretary.
Margaret Grace Bondfield served an apprenticeship to an embroiderer and worked as a shop assistant. She became the first woman to attain cabinet rank in Great Britain, as minister of labour under Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour government.
Before becoming a Conservative MP, Nick Fletcher was an apprentice electrician who started his own business after being made redundant.
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