Shocker for Starmer as Green Party wins UK bypoll

London, Feb 28; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led Labour Party was hit with a major shocker in northern England on Friday as the Left-wing Green Party candidate relegated the governing party to third place after far-right Reform UK. Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber by profession and newcomer to politics, hailed her win as a sign that the Greens can unseat other Labour members of Parliament too in future.
Confronted about her campaign’s controversial Urdu language videos and leaflets featuring Starmer with Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu, the newly-elected MP for Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester dismissed the allegations that they were “sectarian” in nature. However, Labour had accused the Greens of using divisive tactics in a blatant attempt to appeal to the constituency’s significant British Pakistani electorate.
Spencer becomes the party’s fifth MP in Parliament, winning by a solid majority of 4,402 to beat Reform UK’s candidate who polled 10,578 votes. Labour, which had not lost an election in the area since 1931, mustered just 9,364 votes.