Keir Starmer Suffers Humiliating Defeat As Greens Seize Labour Stronghold, Vows To Fight On

Last Updated:February 27, 2026, 18:24 IST

The Labour Party came in third in Gorton and Denton, which it has dominated for nearly a century, behind the victorious leftist Green Party and the far-right Reform UK Party.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suffered an embarrassing election defeat on Friday in Gorton and Denton, an area of Greater Manchester that was dominated by the Labour Party for almost a century. The defeat has underscored the breakdown of Britain’s two-party politics.

The Labour Party came in third in what was considered one of its safest seats – behind the victorious leftist Greens and anti-immigration Reform UK party – underlining a humiliating setback that would put Starmer under further pressure to resign following weeks of political turmoil.

The left-wing Green Party’s Hannah Spencer won the contest for the vacant parliamentary seat of Gorton and Denton after ex-lawmaker Andrew Gwynne resigned on health grounds. Labour Party chair Anna Turley called the result “disappointing", as the result was key to Starmer’s survival after popular Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was barred from standing.

The Green Party won 40.7% of the vote on Friday, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party came second with 28.7% of the votes, and Labour finished third with 25.4%. In the last general election in 2024, the Labour Party won half the vote in Gorton and Denton.

Starmer Breaks Silence On Humiliating Loss

Starmer called the result “very disappointing", adding that he understood the frustration of voters. However, dismissed questions over whether he would resign and vowed to “keep on fighting" for the people who needed a Labour government despite the Green’s victory.

“I came into politics late in life to fight for change for those people who need it. I will keep on fighting for those people for as long as I’ve got breath in my body," he said, while also pledging to fight against “extremes in politics" on both the left and the right.

The defeat came as Starmer faced a dangerous moment in his premiership as some of his own lawmakers suggested that he should resign over his decision to appoint Labour veteran Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, despite his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A string of policy U-turns, sluggish economic growth, scandals and the recent Mandelson row have made Starmer one of the UK’s most unpopular Prime Ministers. The result also showed that British citizens are shifting towards other parties for answers on long-standing issues like cost of living and immigration.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who took charge of the party last September, called it a “seismic" victory. “People now recognise there is an alternative," he told a press conference on Friday.

It was the first time the Green Party, which supports leaving NATO and legalising recreational drugs, had won a one-off election for a seat in parliament or one in the north of England. That takes the party’s total number of seats in the House of Commons to five out of 650.

The next general election in Britain is not expected until 2029, but Thursday’s defeat will intensify pressure on Starmer ahead of May’s local elections, when the party is predicted to also perform poorly.

News world Keir Starmer Suffers Humiliating Defeat As Greens Seize Labour Stronghold, Vows To Fight On

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