Labour cling to ‘only we can beat Reform’ despite Green victory

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:

Despite all the evidence Labour are going to cling to the strategy that 'only Labour can beat Reform' because its all they have. pic.twitter.com/bE5f4PD2XG

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 27, 2026

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:

‼️ BREAKING: Greens WIN Gorton and Denton by-election in a landslide victory

🟢 Grn: 41% (+27)
➡️ Ref: 29% (+15)
🔴 Lab: 25% (-25)
🔵 Con: 2% (-6)
🟠 Lib: 2% (-2)

Green GAIN from Labour (+/- vs GE2024)

‼️First-ever Green win in an MP by-election pic.twitter.com/4dizRt7dOR

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) February 27, 2026

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

As Stats for Lefties added:

The Labour vote was literally cut in half

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) February 27, 2026

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.

"only Labour can beat Reform" was a terrible slogan to push so aggressively in this election

Labour could have made a much more positive case for their candidate (who always had a decent chance of winning!) but instead chose to just… lie to people

Voters saw right through it

— Josh Housden (@JoshHousden) February 27, 2026

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

Beyond losing the seat, Labour have managed to destroy any trust they might have enjoyed with tactical voters at the next election thanks to their endless lying about being “the only party that can beat Reform” pic.twitter.com/c8WLUFGFpL

— Nicholas Guyatt (@NicholasGuyatt) February 27, 2026

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

Labour knew they were lying when they said only they could beat Reform. Their own data would have indicated it after a certain point.

Which means only one thing: the objective was to deprive the Greens of votes so Reform COULD WIN. A Green win was the bigger worry.

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) February 27, 2026

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:

"If you don't like that, if you don't like the changes that we've made, I say the door is open, and you can leave". – Keir Starmer, February 15 2023 pic.twitter.com/YDZvNiSPZm

— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) February 27, 2026

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:

Remember, only Labour can beat reform.

lol https://t.co/3ug8Fbn5n7

— Kieran💚 (@KieranGreen2003) February 27, 2026

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