Keir Starmer Humiliated by Green By-Election Victory
Keir Starmer faced a major political setback after the Green Party overturned a once-safe Labour seat in a dramatic by-election result that sent shockwaves through Westminster.
The contest in Gorton and Denton, held on 26 February 2026, produced a historic victory for the Greens. Hannah Spencer, a local councillor and plumber, won the seat with 14,980 votes and a majority of 4,402. Reform UK finished second with 10,578 votes, while Labour was pushed into third place with 9,364.
The result was significant for several reasons.
Most importantly, Labour had previously held the constituency with a majority of more than 13,000 votes. At the 2024 general election, Labour received 50.8 per cent of the vote. In the by-election, its share fell to 25.4 per cent. The Greens, meanwhile, increased their share from 13.2 per cent in 2024 to around 40.7 per cent.
This was not simply an ordinary change of political representation.
It demonstrated that a constituency which had been strongly associated with Labour could suddenly become highly competitive between several parties.
For Starmer, the result created another difficult political moment because it came in a seat where Labour had traditionally been extremely strong.
The Greens’ victory was also historic for their own party. Hannah Spencer became the Green Party’s first MP elected in the North of England through a parliamentary by-election. The result gave the party another platform in Westminster and strengthened its argument that it could compete for Labour voters in areas where the traditional party system had previously been much more predictable.
The scale of Labour’s defeat was particularly striking.
The party did not merely lose the seat to the Greens. It finished behind Reform UK as well.
That three-way result illustrates the changing political landscape facing Labour.
For years, Labour’s main electoral competition came from the Conservatives. But the rise of Reform UK on the right and the expansion of the Green Party on the left mean Labour can increasingly face pressure from both directions.
This creates a complicated strategic problem.
If Labour moves significantly towards the centre, it risks losing voters who want stronger environmental and social policies. If it moves further left, it risks alienating voters who supported Starmer’s attempt to make Labour appear more economically cautious and electorally broad.
The Gorton and Denton result therefore raised questions about whether Labour can maintain a coalition large enough to withstand competition from emerging parties.
The Greens’ campaign focused heavily on the cost of living, local communities and dissatisfaction with the established political parties.
Hannah Spencer’s victory speech emphasised the idea that ordinary people were struggling while wealth and political power remained concentrated elsewhere. She also argued against what she described as divisive political campaigning.
The message appeared to resonate with enough voters to transform the electoral map of the constituency.
But the result should not automatically be interpreted as proof that every Labour voter nationally has moved towards the Greens.
By-elections have their own dynamics.
Local candidates, campaign organisations, tactical voting, turnout and national political circumstances can all influence the outcome. The Gorton and Denton election had a turnout of 47.62 per cent, with 36,903 votes cast. That was broadly similar to the turnout at the 2024 general election in the constituency, although lower than the national turnout at that election.
Nevertheless, the result provides important evidence about the pressures facing Labour.
One of the clearest signals was the collapse in Labour’s vote share.
The party received 18,555 votes in the 2024 general election. In the by-election, that figure fell to 9,364. At the same time, Reform increased its vote share substantially, while the Greens made an even larger advance.
This suggests that the traditional Labour vote was no longer guaranteed.
The question for Labour is what motivated those voters to change their choices.
Some may have supported the Greens because they wanted stronger action on environmental issues. Others may have been responding to economic concerns, dissatisfaction with the government or local political factors. Some voters may simply have wanted to register a protest against Labour.
A by-election result cannot establish a single explanation for all individual voting decisions.
But politically, the message was impossible to ignore.
Starmer himself acknowledged that the result was disappointing and said voters were frustrated. He nevertheless indicated that he intended to continue fighting for the political changes he had entered politics to pursue.
Inside Labour, however, the result generated further debate.
The defeat strengthened arguments from those who wanted the party to change direction. Former deputy leader Angela Rayner described the result as a wake-up call and called for Labour to be braver and to reconnect with its traditional political agenda.
That internal debate matters because Labour faces competition from both the Greens and Reform.
The Green Party can now point to Gorton and Denton as evidence that it can win constituencies that have historically belonged to Labour.
Reform, meanwhile, can point to its second-place finish as evidence that it is also capable of challenging Labour in areas where Conservatives have traditionally been stronger.
The Conservatives’ result was equally remarkable, although for very different reasons.
Their candidate received only 706 votes, representing 1.9 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives therefore finished fourth and lost their £500 deposit. It was described as the party’s worst performance at a parliamentary by-election.
This means the Gorton and Denton contest was not simply a Labour-Green story.
It reflected a much broader restructuring of British politics.
The traditional parties were squeezed while insurgent parties gained ground.
For Labour, the immediate concern was the loss of a seat that had previously looked secure. But the longer-term question was whether the result represented an isolated by-election shock or part of a deeper change in voting behaviour.
The Green Party certainly believed it represented something larger.
Green leader Zack Polanski celebrated the victory as evidence that his party could challenge Labour directly. The Greens argued that they could attract voters who wanted an alternative to both Labour and Reform.
That positioning could become increasingly important.
The British electorate is becoming more fragmented, with voters increasingly willing to move between parties. Traditional loyalties remain important, but they no longer provide the same level of protection to established parties that they once did.
For Starmer, that means Labour cannot simply rely on historical support.
It must persuade voters to remain with the party on the basis of current policies and performance.
Gorton and Denton demonstrated the consequences when that connection weakens.
The result also raises questions about the role of local campaigning.
The Greens deployed a substantial campaign operation, while Hannah Spencer had a strong local profile as a councillor and plumber. The party presented her as someone with a background outside Westminster politics. That personal connection may have helped distinguish the campaign from those of the larger national parties.
For Reform, the contest provided another opportunity to build support.
For Labour, it became a warning.
The fact that Reform finished ahead of Labour means that Starmer’s party cannot focus solely on competition from the left. It has to deal with pressure from the right at the same time.
That is perhaps the most important lesson from the result.
British politics is becoming less predictable.
A party can lose voters to several competitors for completely different reasons. Economic concerns, immigration, public services, environmental policies, political leadership and dissatisfaction with Westminster can all contribute to changes in voting behaviour.
The Gorton and Denton by-election brought those forces together in one constituency.
It would be premature to treat one by-election as a definitive prediction of Britain’s next general election. But it would also be difficult for Labour to dismiss the result as irrelevant.
A former Labour stronghold changed hands.
The Greens made history.
Reform finished ahead of Labour.
And the Conservatives suffered one of their weakest by-election performances on record.
For Keir Starmer, the immediate political challenge is therefore clear: Labour must understand why so many voters who previously supported the party chose alternatives.
The answer will not necessarily be the same for every voter or every constituency.
But the result has demonstrated that traditional political loyalties can no longer be taken for granted.
The Green Party’s victory has given it greater confidence and a stronger parliamentary presence. Reform’s second-place finish has reinforced its position as a major challenger. Labour, meanwhile, has been left facing difficult questions about its electoral coalition and political direction.
The significance of Gorton and Denton therefore extends well beyond one Greater Manchester constituency.
It is another indication that Britain’s political landscape is changing rapidly.
For Starmer and Labour, the task now is not simply to recover one lost seat. It is to rebuild the connection between the party and voters who increasingly have alternatives on both sides of the political spectrum.
The by-election has shown that even seats once considered safe can become battlegrounds.
And that may be the most uncomfortable lesson of all for Britain’s established political parties.