Starmer called the byelection a battle for the nation’s soul. This result shows Labour has lost that – and I think it will lose much more It wasn’t even close. The scale of victory of the Green party’s Hannah Spencer in Gorton and Denton changes everything. For years, British politics has oscillated between snuffing out hope and stoking fear. The main parties converged around an economic model that irretrievably broke in the crash of 2008, then encouraged understandably furious voters to blame foreigners for the wreckage. In south-east Manchester, thousands of people just revolted against that wretched consensus. The Greens’ campaign will be studied for years. Less than two years ago, they limped into third place in the constituency on just over 13% of the vote , with barely any ground operation to speak of. They started this contest with scant data and little local infrastructure, up against a Labour machine that had dominated the area for generations and, in 2024, secured more than half the vote and a majority north of 13,000. Continue reading...