{"id":105471,"date":"2026-02-28T04:55:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/labour-red-faced-reform-cries-foul-as-greens-claim-key-uk-by-poll\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T04:55:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:55:05","slug":"labour-red-faced-reform-cries-foul-as-greens-claim-key-uk-by-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/labour-red-faced-reform-cries-foul-as-greens-claim-key-uk-by-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour red-faced, Reform cries foul as Greens claim key UK by-poll"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/div>
A SCREENSHOT from the Greens\u2019 Urdu language campaign video.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LONDON: The Green Party of England and Wales secured a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election, overturning Labour\u2019s 13,000-vote majority in a result that comes as a significant setback to Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, was elected as the party\u2019s first MP in northern England after winning 14,980 votes in a tightly contested race.<\/p>\n

Reform UK came second with 10,578 votes, while Labour slumped to third place, finishing 5,616 votes behind the Greens, a dramatic 25.3 per cent drop in its vote share compared with 2024.<\/p>\n

Starmer, facing mounting questions over Labour\u2019s campaign strategy, vowed to \u201ckeep on fighting\u201d after what party insiders described as a humiliating defeat in a constituency long considered a Labour stronghold.<\/p>\n

Multilingual campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n

Central to Spencer\u2019s campaign was an unprecedented multilingual outreach effort aimed at engaging Gorton and Denton\u2019s diverse electorate. The Greens released campaign pamphlets and a video in Urdu, and later in Bangla, highlighting issues such as inflation, unemployment and the housing crisis.<\/p>\n

\n

Councillor Hannah Spencer wins on the back of unique campaign which used Urdu and Bangla to spread her message<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the Urdu language video, Spencer is seen visiting local businesses and addressing voters directly in Urdu. Over images of Starmer shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Spencer says: \u201cPoliticians aren\u2019t working for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The references were widely interpreted as an attempt to appeal to Muslim voters, who make up 28.4pc of the constituency, while 26.6pc of residents identify as Asian. Although there is no official breakdown of Urdu speakers in the constituency, it is considered one of the more diverse areas in England.<\/p>\n

Spencer defended the strategy, saying it reflected the constituency\u2019s linguistic diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cGorton and Denton is a beautifully diverse constituency, with thousands of residents who speak languages other than English,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of our campaign, and of this video, which has been positive, inclusive and focused on the issues that matter most to local people: bringing down rents and bills, proper investment in public services, and rebuilding our NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivals cry foul<\/strong><\/p>\n

The multilingual materials triggered sharp criticism from Labour and Reform UK.<\/p>\n

Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell accused the Greens of a \u201cshameful attempt to manipulate the respected Muslim community,\u201d while a senior Cabinet minister told The Times<\/em> that the party was \u201cdeliberately raising the salience of Gaza\u201d to erode Labour\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

Reform UK candidate Matt Goodwin described the Urdu language video as \u201cblatant sectarianism,\u201d and Reform MP Sarah Pochin released a video condemning the move.<\/p>\n

The Greens rejected the accusations and doubled down by issuing a similar campaign advert in Bangla, the national language of Bangladesh. Spencer accused Labour of resorting to \u201cracist dog whistles\u201d and insisted that providing materials in languages other than English was about inclusion, not division.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be an MP for the whole of Gorton and Denton,\u201d she said, \u201cand I\u2019m proud that we\u2019re demonstrating that by speaking to constituents in the languages they speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landmark win<\/strong><\/p>\n

The by-election result marks one of the most significant Green breakthroughs outside London and Brighton, raising questions about Labour\u2019s grip on urban, ethnically diverse constituencies.<\/p>\n

For Starmer, who had pledged to rebuild Labour\u2019s electoral coalition, the loss is a stark warning that disaffection among key voter groups could reshape the political landscape ahead of the next general election.<\/p>\n

For the Greens, meanwhile, the victory signals a new phase of ambition and a willingness to adopt bold and targeted campaigning in pursuit of it.<\/p>\n

Columnist Taj Ali, writing for Hyphen noted that the Green victory in Gorton and Denton proves working-class and Muslim voters have options.<\/p>\n

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A SCREENSHOT from the Greens\u2019 Urdu language campaign video. LONDON: The Green Party of England and Wales secured a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election, overturning Labour\u2019s 13,000-vote majority in a result that comes as a significant setback to Keir Starmer. Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, was elected as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/primary\/2026\/02\/69a235c67aee2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}