Meanwhile, in Gorton and Denton

Labour has lost a by-election in the formerly secure constituency of Gorton and Denton.

Not only was it a blow-out, Labour came in 3rd place,behind the Green and the Reform Parties.

They won almost entirely disgust with the Conservative Party and the status quo from a profoundly disenchanted electorate.

One only has to look at the turnout.  Labour received ½ million fewer votes in 2024 than they had received in 2019 with total turnout falling by 3½ from the prior election. 

So Starmer's Tory-Lite policies, particularly when his government appears to be (at best) marginal improvement of Conservative incometence, look to be a recipe for failure.

Labour MPs have said for weeks that the outcome they most feared at the Gorton and Denton byelection was a Green party victory.

On Friday morning, those fears were realised.

The Greens’ convincing win in the Manchester seat gives the leftwing party its best byelection result and its first northern seat. More importantly, however, it gives progressive voters a clear signal that they do not have to vote Labour to beat Reform – a signal that could prove catastrophic for the government in some of its strongest heartlands over the next few years.

“What makes this loss so consequential to Labour is not just the scale of the defeat but the message it sends to voters about future contests,” said the pollster Luke Tryl. “One of Labour’s ace cards had been the hope that, however frustrated or disillusioned progressive voters might be with the Starmer government, the threat of Reform would be enough to bring them back into the fold and reunite the left – a similar approach to President Macron’s re-election against Marine Le Pen [in France].

“But that argument risks collapsing following last night’s result.”

Yes, the, "We're incompetent prats, but have you seen the other guy?"strategy.  

That has worked so well for the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) in the United States.  Just ask President Kamala Harris

………

But for Starmer, Labour’s distant third place is likely to reignite questions about his leadership and renew the criticism of those on the left of the party that he has not done enough to impress its progressive base. It follows a similar result last year in the Welsh Senedd seat of Caerphilly, where Plaid Cymru topped the ballot, ending more than 100 years of Labour dominance in the region.

The prime minister’s decision to block Andy Burnham from running for the seat is likely to come under renewed scrutiny, given many voters said they would have been more likely to vote Labour if the Greater Manchester mayor had been the candidate.

Starmer kiboshed the Burnham because he is a (marginally) progressive politician and a potential rival to Starmer's position in the party.

This is what happens when you stand for nothing.