GORTON, England, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Support for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is evaporating in one of its Manchester strongholds, where the Green Party or right-wing Reform UK could rupture decades of political tradition in an election later this month.
Voters in the Gorton and Denton constituency, named after two towns in east Manchester, in northwest England, are due to elect a new member of parliament in a one-off by-election on Thursday.
Now merged into a single seat, both have returned Labour politicians to Westminster for generations – Gorton for almost 100 years, and Denton since World War Two.
Labour won the seat easily in Starmer’s landslide election victory in July 2024, polling just over 50% of the vote, but the current MP Andrew Gwynne said last month he would step down.
The contest to replace him is shaping up to be brutal for the government.
STARMER’S RECORD IN FOCUS
Labour is losing ground in two directions: to the Greens among younger, diverse voters in Manchester’s inner suburbs to the west of the constituency, and to Reform among older, white working-class communities in Denton, to the east.
The seat includes some of the most deprived areas in Manchester, which vies with Birmingham, in central England, as Britain’s second city.
Greens and Reform UK Circle Labour Stronghold in Manchester By-Election
