The Greens may have won here, but they simply do not have the resources, the activist base or the local knowledge to replicate this victory across the country

Following the Labour Party’s defeat in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has written to all of the party’s MPs expressing his disappointment at the result, setting out the reasons he thinks were behind the defeat, while at the same time vowing to carry on despite calls in some quarters for him to go.

The Labour Party finished third in the constituency, a seat it had controlled for over 100 years and where it won with an absolute majority at the 2024 general election.

A number of unions and MPs on the left of the party have called on the Prime Minister to reflect on his own position, however the Prime Minister has vowed to carry on.

Here is the Prime Ministers letter in full:

Dear Colleagues,

The result in Gorton and Denton is deeply disappointing. 

Instead of a Labour MP who can be a local champion delivering for Gorton and Denton alongside a Labour Government and a Labour mayor, the people of Gorton and Denton now have a representative who is more interested in dividing people than uniting them. We have to learn lessons from that, and we will.

I know this is a tough result for our movement but I still want to thank you for everything you did to support our brilliant candidate Angeliki Stogia. She did a fantastic job and Gorton and Denton deserved to have her as their MP.

We’ve seen the true colours of Zack Polanski’s Greens in this campaign. The Greens were able to capitalise on an endorsement from George Galloway to win over enough voters to push them over the line. Their willingness to welcome Galloway’s divisive, sectarian politics is a sign that the Greens are not the harmless environmentalists they pretend to be, and their position on legalising all drugs shows how unstable this electoral coalition is. It cannot survive a general election campaign.

It hurts, but this is the kind of result that we have often seen parties of government face. In by-elections people can make their voice heard without risking a change of government. I get it: people are rightly impatient to see the change they voted for.

It’s my job to make sure that happens. And I’m working day in, day out to see it through.

Over the coming months, people will feel the benefit of the long-term decisions this government is taking. Look at the good economic news we’ve had in the past week: inflation and borrowing coming down, retail sales and business confidence rising, energy bills falling. And look at the policies that are going to make a difference in people’s lives in the coming months: the landmark Employment Rights Act, money off energy bills, the cruel two-child limit scrapped, more free breakfast clubs opening, Pride in Place funding coming through, NHS waiting lists continuing to fall. It will show what we’ve been saying from the outset of this year: the country is turning a corner. These are all Labour policies, putting Labour values into action – policies no other party would or could deliver.

The Greens may have won here, but they simply do not have the resources, the activist base or the local knowledge to replicate this victory across the country. We’ve seen that before. We’ve seen it with the Lib Dems, who have often won mid-term by-elections against both the Conservatives and Labour, but never been able to come close to winning nationally. We’ve seen it with George Galloway, who won two mid-term by elections but held neither of those seats in a general election.

We will continue to warn of the risk the Greens pose: the risk of extreme policies like legalising all drugs and pulling out of NATO that most voters strongly reject, and the risk of splitting the progressive vote so that Reform come through the middle. 

The next election is too important to let that happen. It’s a fight we can win, and we’re going to win it.

Best,

Keir

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