Result gives progressive voters clear signal they have an alternative to beating Reform UK – and shows the task ahead for Keir Starmer
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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, their worst fears were realised.
The Greens’ convincing win in the Manchester seat gives the leftwing party its best byelection result and its first ever 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.
