Labour MPs demand Starmer change course after humiliating byelection loss

Keir Starmer is facing an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or risk a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labour with a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton.Overturning a 13,000 Labour majority from the general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, became the party’s fifth MP on Friday. Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin was second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia.The scale of defeat in an area that had returned Labour MPs for nearly a century, and where Starmer’s party still believed it could win even on polling day, plunged his ministers and MPs into renewed despair just weeks after he saw off a challenge to his position.While only a handful of backbenchers called openly for Starmer to depart after the result, even loyal ministers said the surge in the Greens’ fortunes under the leadership of Zack Polanski meant the prime minister had to address an exodus of Labour voters from its left flank.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”.Hannah Spencer was elected MP of Gorton and Denton, the first Green MP in northern England. Photograph: Andy Kelvin/PABut Starmer appeared minded to ignore the pressure, using a TV clip and letter to his MPs to attack the Greens as an “extreme” leftwing equivalent of Reform UK, saying they could not replicate the success in a general election.Without a significant turnaround in his fortunes, Starmer could face a leadership challenge after elections in May to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and English councils, with Labour currently expected to fare badly in all of them.One new poll on Friday suggested that in Scotland, Labour could be pushed into fourth place for the first time, behind not just the SNP and Reform, but also the Scottish Greens.“I think it hastens everything,” one MP on the soft left of the party said of the Gorton and Denton result. “I thought we could maybe keep going for another year after May but definitely not now. I don’t think anything can save him.”Ministers usually loyal to the prime minister were similarly downbeat. “The result is cataclysmically bad for us. The worst possible,” one said. “It will obviously intensify calls for Keir to make moves to the progressive wing, but the calls will be to do it now – not in a few months or even a few weeks.”The sense of humiliation for Starmer is heightened by the fact that Downing Street blocked Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, from standing in the byelection, with many in the party believing his local popularity would have saved the seat.A chart showing the change in voting in Gorton and Denton between the 2024 general election and the 2026 byelectionThe two men met in Manchester this week for one-on-one talks, which were said to have been initially awkward but ultimately constructive as they cleared the air.Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. “With all the chaos and turmoil, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never,” one ally said.For the Greens, the result was a historic triumph, bringing the party not just its first byelection win, but also signalling to voters that it has the potential upper hand in offering an alternative to Reform.Hannah Spencer's victory speech after Gorton and Denton byelection – videoIn her victory speech in the early hours of Friday, Spencer said she had offered voters an alternative to “working to line the pockets of billionaires”.While Reform and the Conservatives claimed the Greens’ success with many Muslim voters in the constituency was a sign of sectarian politics – the Reform leader, Nigel Farage, went so far as to allege that “cheating” cost his party the seat – Spencer sought to highlight what she said was the common ground.“We did this, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Just as we have always done in this constituency. Because this is Manchester. And we do things differently here,” she told cheering supporters at the count.There will be intense pressure on Starmer to try to stem expected losses to the Greens in council elections, notably in London, and to Plaid Cymru in Wales, with a shift leftwards, particularly after the departure of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.But based on Starmer’s reaction on Friday, this could be a challenge. One MP described the prime minister as being in “factory reset” mode, reverting to the same talking points. Another said: “He isn’t even close to getting it, unfortunately.”One senior Labour strategist said they were aghast at his media clips. “People turn out against us in droves and they are extremist? I do not think anyone believes that the Greens are extremists.”One point of contention for ministers is likely to be the government’s move to make it harder for migrants to achieve settled status in the UK, forcing them to wait for ten years rather than the current five. “The antidote to division and hostility is unity,” said one MP. “But you’ve got to mean it. You can’t keep playing dog-whistle politics on migration and wondering why you’re losing votes among ethnic minority voters.”Some in the cabinet believe, however, that the byelection result is likely to push No 10 into action. “It will probably mean a shift to the left, though where that leads in a general election is another question,” one cabinet minister predicted.Others acknowledged Starmer’s situation, but suggested that a change in leadership would make no difference. “It’s not working but I don’t see what the alternative is,” another cabinet minister said.