PM mówi, że będzie „walczyć dalej” po upokorzeniu w wyborach uzupełniających przez Zielonych

Floundering Keir Starmer insisted he will 'fight on’ today after being humiliated by the Greens in a disastrous by-election. Angela Rayner is among those demanding 'change’ as critics insisted Sir Keir is personally culpable for the 'worst possible’ result in Gorton & Denton. But the PM tried to front up the anger this morning, playing down the meltdown as a 'disappointing’ setback for a Government in 'mid-term’. He also shrugged off condemnation for blocking Andy Burnham from being the Labour candidate, and dodged directly addressing whether he had considered quitting. The Greens had never won a Parliamentary by-election – or a seat in the North – but Hannah Spencer romped home with a 4,400 majority. Despite flooding the area with ministers and 1,000 activists, Labour did not even have the consolation of second place, with its candidate trailing in behind Reform’s Matt Goodwin. Nigel Farage complained of 'cheating’ and Muslim 'sectarianism’ after reports of so-called 'family voting’ from independent observers – an illegal practice where people are escorted to polling booths. Allies insisted he will survive at least until local elections in May, because rebels 'don’t have anyone’ in a position to challenge. But there are already furious recriminations going on, after the premier blocked popular Manchester mayor Mr Burnham from being the candidate amid fears he would be a leadership rival in the Commons. Asked on a visit in London if he had contemplated resigning, the PM said: 'It’s a very disappointing result. Incumbent governments quite often get results like that mid-term, but I do understand that voters are frustrated. They’re impatient for change.’ And I came into politics late in life, as it happens, to fight for change for those people who need it, the people who need an NHS that works for them, to be able to get a doctor’s appointment when they need it, to get the money they need in their pockets to pay their bills and to have a decent and better life. And I will keep on fighting for those people for as long as I’ve got breath in my body. I will also fight against the extremes in politics on the Right and the Left parties who want to tear our country apart. The result demonstrates that Zack Polanski’s 'eco-populist’ Greens are capable of shattering Labour’s fragile coalition of voters, despite peddling a host of extreme policies including legalizing hard drugs, scrapping the nuclear deterrent, and leaving the NATO military alliance. The apparent success of Ms. Spencer’s focus on Gaza, with a significant Muslim vote in Gorton & Denton, will spread panic among Sir Keir’s MPs. Among other developments on a breathtaking day of political drama: – Kemi Badenoch said Labour created the 'monster of harvesting Muslim community bloc votes’ and it had come back to bite them; – Mr Polanski denied playing on 'racism’ among Muslim voters by using pictures during the campaign of Sir Keir with India’s Hindu PM Narendra Modi; – Reform has notified the police after independent observers raised concerns about the highest levels of 'family voting’ they had seen for a decade; – In a new threat to Sir Keir, Jeremy Corbyn said Your Party would work 'constructively with the Greens’; – Political scientists Professor Rob Ford said Labour was being crushed between the Left and the Right, telling Sky News: 'The number of Labour MPs who will now be worried about their prospects of re-election has just gone up very substantially.’ – The Tories lost their deposit after effectively sitting out the by-election contest.