Labour claim only they could win by-election

Labour keeps telling voters some variation of the following:

Only we can beat Reform!

The problem is they keep proving themselves wrong — most recently in a Kent County Council by-election:

These people are genuinely addicted to lying.

Labour have deployed this "only Labour can beat Reform" line in 3 legislative by-elections, and…

➡️ Reform won Runcorn + Helsby
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Plaid Cymru won Caerphilly
🟢 Greens won Gorton + Denton

It does not work! Why keep saying it?? pic.twitter.com/az7IKNun54

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 10, 2026

Greens keep winning

The Greens secured an impressive victory over Reform in Kent — an area which had come to be seen as a Reform stronghold:

‼️Greens GAIN Kent council seat from Reform

🟢 Grn: 39% (+27)
➡️ Ref: 33% (-7)
🔵 Con: 15% (-4)
🔴 Lab: 10% (-12)
⚪️ Ind: 1% (-2)
🟠 Lib: 1% (-2)

Ward: Cliftonville (+/- vs 2025 election) pic.twitter.com/JyzM7Gg3AB

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 10, 2026

As it’s only been in Reform hands since May 2025, we guess it’s less of a ‘stronghold’ and more of a ‘limp-grip’ given that they’re already vacating their seats for the Greens.

In March this year, Labour List published the following:

Dame Emily Thornberry said the lesson from last time was that only Labour was in with a chance of beating Reform in Cliftonville.

She said:

“I’ve campaigned against Reform UK councils across the country, but this one in Kent is among the worst I’ve seen. They are hiking council tax when they said they wouldn’t, slashing vital services in Thanet, and the council leader was even caught screaming and swearing at her own colleagues.

“Labour came second here last time, so Cliftonville voters have a real chance to send Reform a message that Thanet won’t tolerate their public service cuts and shameless lies.”

In the end, Labour won fewer than half the votes that the Greens did. And if you look at how much vote share the Greens gained compared to how much everyone else lost, it looks like Zack Polanski’s party may be picking up votes from all of the other parties at this point.

In other words, if anyone should be arguing ‘only we can beat Reform‘, it’s the Greens. Except they shouldn’t say that; they should say ‘only the Greens are beating Reform‘, because that’s the reality we’re living in.

As Stats for Lefties added:

The problem with claiming "only Labour can beat Reform" over and over and over is voters have eyes. And whenever Labour goes up against Reform, they watch Labour eat shit. All they do is prove that they CAN'T beat Reform.

So voters think – maybe someone else can.

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 10, 2026

People reacted to the victory as follows:

The Greens have won a Kent County Council by-election, called after Reform councillor Daniel Taylor was given a 12-month prison sentence after admitting to controlling or coercive behaviour towards his wife.

Green candidate Rob Yates won with nearly 39% of the vote.

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) April 10, 2026

Managed to say which party won but curiously left out which party the jailed councillor was from. https://t.co/rNdst2AlAf

— cez (@cezthesocialist) April 10, 2026

Reform’s disgrace

The Kent by-election occurred because an ex-Reform councillor was jailed for abusing his wife:

#Reform Councillor David Taylor JAILED.

"nasty and violent".
"told his wife he would hunt her like prey and kill her, and that he would "put her in the boot and set fire to the car".

And STILL he was 'vetted' & 'approved' by #Reform as a candidate while this was all going on. pic.twitter.com/WhMox3ope4

— John O'Connell (@jdpoc) February 20, 2026

Kent is one of Reform’s key councils; it’s also the party’s most chaotic.

Infamously, Kent had to suspend four Reform councillors after a “chaotic meeting was leaked”. As Joe Glenton wrote for the Canary:

A spokesperson for the far-right party said they’d brought Reform UK into disrepute.

Which is quite a gallant argument given Reform UK didn’t have much repute to start with. Anyway, here’s a group of dysregulated middle-aged toddlers having an incredibly puerile row:

Kent Council also drew criticism for telling a local parish they couldn’t put Christmas lights up because they had Union Jacks on them (flags which went up as part of the flag mania which sweeped the UK in 2025).

Labour — Changes

Gone are the days when only Labour and the Tories were viewed as serious political entities. Now, voters don’t want to hear ‘only we can win‘; they want to know why a political party winning will benefit them.

Labour have no good answers on that front, which is why they can now only come third (at best!).

Featured image via Barold