Starmer gives Gorton & Denton candidate the kiss of death

Keir Starmer is the most unpopular prime minister the UK has ever suffered through. As such, he’s now said to have a ‘reverse Midas’ touch, in that everything he touches turns to shit. This was most notable in Starmer’s support of Digital ID:

Starmer’s reverse Midas touch. https://t.co/bwkOle1uKe

— Joe Guinan (@joecguinan) December 30, 2025

Now, Starmer has travelled to Manchester to offer his support to Gorton & Denton candidate Angeliki Stogia.

Will this boost her chances, or is it the kiss of death?

Keir Starmer has visited Gorton & Denton ahead of Thursday’s crucial by-election, saying contest is a “straight fight” between Labour and Reform.

It’s quite unusual for PMs – particularly ones with as low approval ratings as this one – to campaign in by-elections.

But it’s in… pic.twitter.com/IG633tOVek

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) February 23, 2026

Dead campaign walking

For those who don’t know, the ‘kiss of death’ is when a Mafia boss marks a lower mobster for execution by planting lips on them. Probably this only happens in movies, but still, it’s a useful image.

Here’s what the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar said above about Starmer’s visit:

Keir Starmer has visited Gorton & Denton ahead of Thursday’s crucial by-election, saying contest is a “straight fight” between Labour and Reform.

It’s quite unusual for PMs – particularly ones with as low approval ratings as this one – to campaign in by-elections.

But it’s in line with growing confidence within Labour – despite Greens making inroads into their vote – that it could win the seat. Party insiders claim that ‘don’t knows’ are splitting for them.

However, the visit also ties Starmer more closely to the result, especially in a tight race. We’ll know within days whether it was a smart move – or not.

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.

Economist Ashok Kumar had this to say:

“Labour insiders claim ‘don’t knows’ are breaking their way.”

This is pure fantasy. The latest Omnisis poll shows the opposite. When undecideds are pushed to choose between Green and Reform, Greens lead 33% to 19%. When the choice is Labour or Green, Greens lead again 27% to 16% https://t.co/s0DhpoKkEW

— Ashok Kumar | 🇵🇸 (@broseph_stalin) February 23, 2026

He added:

This trip is about manufacturing a “they must be confident” narrative. Reporters are parroting it despite the polling and canvass returns saying the opposite. It’s a last-minute media push designed to spook voters into thinking Labour are strong. That’s not confidence. It’s desperation.

Philip Proudfoot documented several instances of mainstream journalists parroting the Labour line:

Hi Guys, can you tweet something like, "Starmer visiting Gorton and Denton is a show of strength"

(This is all entirely confected; no data supports it, and our client journalists are all happy to go along with it. Shameful as usual) pic.twitter.com/VjL8hp0ysS

— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) February 23, 2026

We actually documented another instance of the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar working hand in glove with Labour this week:

You didn’t ’put the allegation’ to Paul though, did you @PippaCrerar ? You told him the Guardian were running a story the next day. And ‘none of the allegations’ were printed because he said he would sue. This rewording is entirely cynical and fails to address your role. pic.twitter.com/Mj86N4cek9

— dreams of widnes (@DWidnes) February 21, 2026

Anti-Midas

Joe Guinan has documented other examples of Starmer’s “reverse Midas touch”. The most recent was in relation to the Cabinet Office chaos he’s overseen:

Starmer’s Reverse Midas Touch https://t.co/fCraXXDa1D

— Joe Guinan (@joecguinan) February 17, 2026

The following is from a May 2025 by-election:

Labour’s sixteenth safest seat. Starmer’s reverse Midas touch. pic.twitter.com/Yqi5rAoRSe

— Joe Guinan (@joecguinan) May 3, 2025

Starmer has only become more unpopular since then, so it’s hard to imagine things going differently in Gorton & Denton. Well, besides Labour losing votes to both the Greens and Reform that is.

No one’s PM

Some people struggle to understand how Starmer could be the most unpopular PM ever given options like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. The answer is that some voters liked those politicians and believed in their political projects. No one likes Starmer, and he doesn’t have a coherent political project to get behind.

As such, while the hatred against Thatcher and Blair was intense, it’s more widespread with Starmer.

A good example of Starmer’s failure is that despite being a boring man with a sensible haircut, he’s completely failed to win the admiration of arch-centrists like Tim Walker:

Starmer’s man. pic.twitter.com/lglNBOJgYk

— Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) February 23, 2026

This is why we can’t imagine Starmer’s trip to Gorton & Denton having any impact.

Well, any positive impact, anyway.

It’s obviously going to piss off all the people who hate him, which is everyone.

Featured image via X