Keir Starmer vows to fight on despite humiliation of Green by - election win

chesterstandard.co.uk · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “keep on fighting” despite Labour’s humiliating defeat in the Gorton and Denton by-election. The Prime Minister faces intense pressure to shift his party to the left or resign after Labour came third behind Zack Polanski’s Greens and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the previously rock-solid Greater Manchester constituency. But speaking to reporters, he acknowledged it was a “disappointing” result and that voters were “frustrated”, but insisted he would carry on. Asked if he had considered resigning, Sir Keir said: “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.” Sir Keir also pledged to “fight against extremes in politics” on both the left and the right that threatened to “tear our country apart”. Thursday’s by-election saw Hannah Spencer, a councillor and plumber, emerged victorious for the Greens with 14,980 votes – a majority of 4,402. Labour MPs, unions and campaign groups have demanded a change of course from Sir Keir ahead of crucial elections in May, with warnings his days in No 10 could be numbered unless the party’s fortunes improve. Former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the result should be a “wake-up call” for the party, calling for her colleagues to “be braver” and “rededicate” themselves to “a Labour agenda that puts people first”. Other backbenchers have gone further, with Norwich South MP Clive Lewis telling the Press Association the result had been “a punch in the face” for Labour and Sir Keir. Accusing the Government of alienating its core supporters, he said the party needed “a clean break” or would “lose the country for a generation”. Trade union leaders have also called for a change in direction, with Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the TSSA transport union, demanding Sir Keir resign “immediately”. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the party needed to “ditch the gimmicks and get back to being Labour”, while Fire Brigades Union chief Steve Wright said the party would face “heavy losses” at local and devolved elections in May if it did not “change course immediately”. At a rally in Manchester celebrating his party’s victory, Green leader Mr Polanski said the result was “an existential crisis for the Labour Party”. He said: “No longer can they try and scare people into saying they have to vote for something because they’re worried about the least-worst option. “A vote for the Greens is a vote both to stop Reform, to stop Labour and for something hopeful and a plan.” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, whose candidate came a distant fourth with just 706 votes, said the result “shows Keir Starmer’s premiership is finished”. She added: “He is in office but not in power. If he had any integrity he would go.” Despite widespread discontent among Labour backbenchers, however, some MPs have suggested the lack of a clear replacement could keep Sir Keir in office for the time being. One MP told PA: “The succession choices currently on the table take us back, not forward, so it’s the worst of all worlds.”