Labour MPs demand Starmer change direction after humiliating byelection loss | Politics

Keir Starmer faces an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or see a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labor with a historic by-election victory in Gorton and Denton.

Local plumber and Greens councilor Hannah Spencer became the party’s fifth MP on Friday, overturning Labour’s 13,000 majority in the general election. Reform England’s Matt Goodwin came second, just ahead of Labor candidate Angeliki Stogia.

The scale of the defeat in a region where Labor MPs have returned for nearly a century and where Starmer’s party still believes it can win even on election day has plunged his ministers and MPs into renewed despair just weeks after he accepted a challenge to his position.

While only a handful of backbenchers openly called for Starmer to leave after the result, even loyalist ministers said the Greens’ surge in fortunes under Zack Polanski meant the prime minister had to address the exodus of left-wing Labor voters.

In a pointed comment, Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister and a key figure on the Labor left, described the result as “a wake-up call”.

But Starmer appeared to intend to ignore the pressure, using a television clip and letter to MPs to attack the Greens, calling them the “far-left” equivalent of Reformation England and saying they could not repeat the success of the general election.

Unless there is a significant turn in his fortunes, Starmer could face a leadership challenge after May’s elections to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and English councils; Labor is currently expected to perform poorly in all of them.

A new poll on Friday suggested Labor could be pushed into fourth place in Scotland for the first time, behind not only the SNP and Reform, but also the Scottish Greens.

“I think it accelerates everything,” one MP on the party’s soft left said of the Gorton and Denton results. “I thought we could go on for another year after May, but definitely not now. I don’t think anything can save him.”

Ministers generally loyal to the prime minister were similarly pessimistic. “The outcome is catastrophically bad for us. The worst possible,” one said. “Calls for Keir to make a move on the progressive side will obviously intensify, but the calls will do so immediately – not in a few months or even a few weeks.”

Starmer’s sense of humiliation was further compounded when Downing Street blocked Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing in the by-election because many in the party believed Burnham’s local popularity would save the seat.

The two men met for one-on-one talks in Manchester this week; These talks were said to be awkward at first but ultimately constructive as they cleared the air.

But it is understood Burnham has not ruled out another try to return to parliament. “With all this chaos and turmoil, who knows what will happen? It would be foolish to say it will never happen,” one ally said.

For the Greens, the result was a historic victory; It not only gave the party its first byelection victory, but also signaled to voters that it had the potential edge in offering an alternative to Reform.

In his victory speech earlier Friday, Spencer said he was offering voters an alternative to “trying to line billionaires’ pockets.”

While Reform and the Conservatives described the Greens’ success with large numbers of Muslim voters in the constituency as a sign of sectarian politics (Reform leader Nigel Farage went so far as to claim “cheating” had cost his party seats) Spencer sought to highlight what he said was common ground.

“We did it side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Just like we always do in this constituency. Because this is Manchester. And we do things differently here,” he told cheering supporters at the count.

With a shift to the left, particularly following the departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, there will be intense pressure on Starmer to try to stem the expected losses of the Greens, especially in council elections in London, and Plaid Cymru in Wales.

But judging by Starmer’s reaction on Friday, it could be a challenge. One MP said the prime minister was in “factory reset” mode and was returning to the same talking points. Another said: “Unfortunately he didn’t even come close to getting it.”

A senior Labor strategist said they were appalled by media clips of the Prime Minister. “People are opposing us in droves and they are extremists? I don’t think anyone believes the Greens are extremists.”

One sticking point for ministers is likely to be the government’s move to make it harder for immigrants to achieve settled status in the UK, forcing them to wait ten years instead of the current five years.

“The antidote to division and hostility is unity,” said one member of parliament. “But you have to mean it. You can’t keep playing whistle-blowing politics on immigration and wondering why you’re losing votes among ethnic minority voters.”

But some in the cabinet believe the by-election result is likely to galvanize No 10. “This will probably mean a shift to the left, but where this will go in the general election is another question,” one cabinet minister predicted.

Others acknowledged Starmer’s situation but suggested the change in leadership would make no difference. Another cabinet minister said: “This doesn’t work but I can’t see what the alternative is.”