Gorton and Denton voters explain why Labour lost crucial by-election
W“We have torn down the roof of British politics,” Green Party leader Zack Polanski said after Hannah Spencer claimed a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton that sent shockwaves through Labor.
“Labour’s electoral stranglehold is over,” Mr. Polanski said, describing Ms. Spencer’s victory as causing an “existential crisis” for a party that he claimed had long assumed the support of areas like this.
It is an outcome that will have shattering consequences for British politics – leaving prime minister Sir Keir Starmer fighting for his political life – but it also brings with it a sense that the central era of Labor in England’s North West is over.
This constituency is only two years old but previous versions of the district and seat have always remained Labor loyalists; Manchester Gorton has been red since 1935, while Denton and Reddish have been Labor since its founding in 1983.
The party that people in this area have long thought represents them has fallen to third place in this by-election behind Greens and Reform UK candidate Matt Goodwin, who won the seat with a 13,000 majority in the 2024 general election.
Voters waking up to a new MP in Gorton and Denton He claimed they were running out of patience as they waited for the Labor Party, which they helped bring to power 19 months ago, to improve their lives.
Just yards from the Reform UK sign placed in his neighbour’s garden, Joseph McNamara had a notice in his front window supporting Ms Spencer.
He had never voted for the Greens before but thought now was the right time.
“I voted Labor years ago but I don’t anymore,” said the 77-year-old man, who moved to Manchester from Ireland in 1966. Independent.
“Starmer is more for the top than the bottom. He promises things and says, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll do this, I’ll do that’. At the end of the day, nothing happens.”
Miss Spencer said Independent during the campaign A vote for him was a vote for hope. Joseph liked this.
He explained that his choice was very simple. “They can do more and help people than Labor has done.”
Asked if he believed working-class voters would look at Labor in a way that he did not believe Labor had done, he added: “I hope so. That’s the main reason. That’s what everyone wants to see done.”
University worker John Tiplady, from Gorton, has always voted Labour. But he did not do so this time as he felt Sir Keir’s party no longer supported people like him.
“Never again [would he vote for Labour]It’s not about the current situation,” the 65-year-old said. Independent on Mount Road in Gorton on Friday morning.
He said the party was now focused on the “Westminster establishment” rather than such communities, adding: “I think they’ve lost track of what they’re supposed to represent.”
John never voted for Reformation and was not won over by the victorious Greens. Feeling completely out of choice, he chose to vote for the Monster Looney Party in protest.
But under different circumstances Labor might have won back John’s vote.
“I think 100 percent of them will vote for Andy Burnham and he will walk that path,” he explained.
Merseyside-born Mr Burnham, the popular Mayor of Greater Manchester, was blocked from becoming Labour’s by-election candidate by the party’s National Executive Committee over fears he would use his position as an MP to challenge Sir Keir for the leadership.
Although Mr. Polanski and Ms. Spencer thought they would beat Mr. Burnham, his absence undoubtedly hurt the party’s chances of retaining the seat.
“It would give us a strong northern sound,” John said. “He’s trying to fight, he’s a puppet.”
John believes the combination of Angela Rayner, MP for nearby Ashton, and Mr Burnham, who leads the Labor Party, will be the way back from this disaster.
Ms Rayner led calls for introspection in the Labor Party after the result. “This result should be a wake-up call,” he wrote to X.
“Now is the time to really listen and think. Voters want the change we promised, and they voted for it.”
“If we want to solve the system, if we want to make the change that we sent to the Government, we have to be bolder.”
But John does not think the “Westminster establishment” would allow such a change within the party.
Geoff Drake, a 71-year-old market trader from Denton, was far from impressed with the result. He voted for Reform, saying he was concerned about immigration and had no time for either the Green Party or the Labor Party.
He hasn’t voted for the latter in 40 years and believes that needs to change. However, he does not believe that he will learn the right lessons from this defeat.
“Shift [in votes] Labor must show them where they’re going wrong. They need to learn something from this. But can they fix this?”
Mr Polanski believes the Green Party has established a foundation that Labor refuses to change.
Asked by Independent On whether this byelection result cements the Green Party and UK Reform as the new left and right wings of British politics, and how his party will differ from Labor in countering the rise of Nigel Farage, he said: “I think it’s about having some real principles and a coherent narrative of what you’re doing.
“Because right now Nigel Farage is saying jump and Keir Starmer is saying how high?
“There are many issues where we see Keir Starmer not actually offering an alternative to Nigel Farage.
“He just introduced a light diet coke and you know if people wanted the full fat one they would vote for Nigel Farage and Reformation.”
The Green Party leader suggested that the premiership may not survive this by-election result. He said his party had succeeded where Labor had failed because it did not try to “feed” parties on the right while chasing votes.
He said: “It’s not my place to give Keir Starmer tips anymore and I think even if I did give him tips he probably wouldn’t be around long enough to implement them at this point.
“But for the Green Party, I think it’s about not giving even an inch to the right, because the more you give and the more you feed it, the worse they get and the more and more extreme the situation becomes.”
Ms Spencer was equally upbeat at the press conference.
“This is just the beginning. That’s 127 of the seats the Green Party is targeting. There’s at least 126 seats we could win with a smaller swing than what we’re seeing here. But actually we could win anywhere.”
“There is definitely something huge happening right now,” the new MP added.
Labor cannot ignore this.
