Labour fall flat after ‘only we can beat Reform’ promise

Labour had a clear message in the Gorton & Denton by-election, and that message was ‘only we can beat Reform‘. The problem, of course, is that they didn’t beat Reform.

Despite this, they’re still suggesting only they can can do what they just publicly did not:

Is it too much to ask that they offer voters something besides nonsensical slogans?

Just nationalise utilities and tax the rich, for god’s sake; it’s not rocket science!

The Failure Party

In case you missed the results, here they are – a staggering defeat for Labour:

As you can see, Labour didn’t even beat Reform to second place.

As Stats for Lefties added:

In the video at the top, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell said:

I think what is really clear is that there is a big majority in this constituency that hasn’t voted for Reform, and on the day the Greens have managed to win that argument that they were best placed to do that.

But I’m not sure whether that would totally translate in a general election.

So Labour are transitioning from ‘only we can win in Gorton & Denton‘ to ‘only we can win in the general election‘. The more elections they lose, however, the harder it is to sell that message.

Oh, and it doesn’t help that Labour used so many dirty tricks in this by-election (including faking a tactical voting campaign):

Novara’s Aaron Bastani, meanwhile, suggested the following:

Historic loss

The Gorton and Denton constituency has only existed since 2024, but the areas covered by it have voted Labour for decades. In other words, Keir Starmer ended a streak which lasted for around half a century.

And it didn’t have to happen.

As we reported, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham wanted to run, and he’s incredibly popular. Starmer and his cronies blocked him, and now Labour have suffered a loss so great there will surely be a leadership challenge.

People pointed out that Starmer made a public show of banishing Labour progressives who wanted things like nationalisation and peace. Starmer referred to these people as “fleas”. Now, the fleas have come back to bite him in the Gorton & Dentons:

Despite his record-breaking unpopularity, Starmer actually travelled to Gorton & Denton to support his candidate. Describing this as a “kiss of death”, we wrote:

If it was a “smart move”, it will be Starmer’s first since he took office.

If it was a bad move, it will be far from his worst move over the past week.

As it turned out, it was a bad move.

Jokes

At this point, the idea that ‘only Labour can win‘ has literally become a joke:

The question is this: will Labour get some new material, or will they repeat the line until it’s not even funny anymore?

Featured image via Stats for Lefties