Labour must cease taking progressive voters for granted, says Sadiq Khan | Labour

The Gorton and Denton by-election has revealed a “wide-ranging shift and rupture” in UK politics and Labor must abandon its “flawed strategy” of taking liberal progressives for granted, London’s mayor said.

In what appeared to be an attack on Keir Starmer, Sadiq Khan took issue with the prime minister’s branding of the Green party and its policies as “extreme”, saying many of his supporters shared Labour’s values ​​but were disappointed with the government.

Plumber Hannah Spencer became the Green party’s fifth MP, overturning Labour’s majority of more than 13,000. His party gained popularity under its new leader, Zack Polanski, attracting many disgruntled former Labor supporters.

Labor candidate Angeliki Stogia finished third behind Reform England’s Matt Goodwin in one of the most humiliating byelection results in Labor Party history.

Labor insiders have long warned that the party risks losing support on the left as it struggles to combat the rise of Reformation UK.

Polanski criticized Labor for its recent harsh immigration policies, claiming the party reflected the “racist rhetoric of the far right”. Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood is expected to double down on this issue with planned changes to asylum policy.

Writing for the Guardian, Khan said trying to compete with Reform was unrealistic and a betrayal of Labor values ​​and warned the party faced disaster in the May election unless it changed course.

Khan said: “There is nothing to cover up what happened in the by-election in Gorton and Denton, which was a terrible result for Labor who came third in the seat we have held for almost a century.

“People often exaggerate the significance of the byelection results, but this signals a far-reaching shift and rupture in our politics that cannot be ignored or eliminated.

“A political strategy of taking liberal, progressive voters for granted is clearly flawed. National Labor and the government need not only to reflect on this outcome, but to fundamentally rethink its approach.”

Khan stopped short of urging Starmer to step aside, criticizing the prime minister for suggesting Green voters were excessive in the face of defeat.

“The vast majority of people considering voting Green are not extremists,” Khan said. “Many people share our values ​​and hopes for the country but are disillusioned with the government. Calling them excessive will only turn more people away.

“The threat to Labor now remains in some parts of our country. Without a change of course, we risk losing major Labor Party strongholds like London again, just as we did in Scotland in the 2000s,” he said.

“If we don’t bring progressives together, we risk opening the door to the darkness and division of Reformation, a party that takes Donald Trump as its inspiration and promises ICE-style force on the streets of Britain that would send shivers down the spines of every minority community living in this country.”

Khan said he “stands by his promise to defend our values ​​of equality, inclusion and respect for diversity” in the 2024 mayoral elections.

He said this meant calling out Trump for racism and sexism and lobbying for Britain to rejoin the EU customs union in the face of the damage done by Brexit.

Khan said: “Staying silent on these issues and trying to compete with Reform on the right of politics, at a time when originality in politics is valued more than ever, is not only a sham, but a betrayal of what the Labor Party is supposed to represent. We must engage with voters’ concerns and fears, not play on them.”

He added that he had not called on Starmer to resign, but felt the “good work” he had done as prime minister had been overshadowed by “missteps and political positioning”.

Starmer may face a leadership challenge after local elections in May unless there is a significant turnaround in the party’s fortunes. Labor is expected to lose hundreds of council seats in England, as well as suffer heavy defeats in the Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections.

Khan added: “At a time when there is so much uncertainty in the global economy and geopolitics, it would not be in the national interest to create political instability at the top of the government.

“But real change and a hopeful vision for the future is needed, not doom and gloom.”