It wasn't even close in the end. This was the by-election result in Groton and Denton in Manchester last night:
I woke up fearing the worst. Instead the margin of victory was emphatic.
People voted for the politics of care.
They voted against Labour's politics of destruction and Reform's politics of hate.
I always say that I live in hope. This morning, I have a little more.
Of all the options available in this election, the Greens were undoubtedly the best. It is massively encouraging that so many people recognised that fact.
I will have more to say on this, shortly. But there are also moments that must just be enjoyed. This is one of them.
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There is a great deal of relief and hope that can be taken from this, showing that there are many who want positivity in politics.
It does show however, how the 3 main parties have utterly failed people, and shows they do not have a clue about people’s concerns and more importantly how to fix them.
Weak reactionary politics from the current administration, which has no identity, other than adopting the typical argument, “we’re better than them over there”. They are a disgrace.
I do hope that at the centre of any messaging from the Greens, is a focus on replacing the neo liberal economic consensus, which is worshipped at Westminster. Tough ask, but it’s got to start somewhere.
And now Reform are complaining and hinting at cheating. How predictable. Straight from the Trump playbook. When you lose, you try to delegitimise the result. Manufactured grievance, suspicion without evidence, and rhetoric that flirts with authoritarianism.
We have seen this script before. It is tired, and people are not buying it.
Writing election materials in Urdu is, apparently, cheating.
Goodwin did worse than that: he said of the Greens, “This kind of campaign, in different languages appealing to specific groups based on their characteristics, is unacceptable in modern Britain”.
I’d call that a racist dog-whistle, but the sound of a dog-whistle is inaudible to human ears.
Agreed.
Appalling.
Apparently he is entirely unaware we are a multilingual country.
Actual goosebumps! I didn’t know the result til just now. Quite emotional. Well done Hannah! Well done Greens! And well done Gorton & Denton! And keep going!
First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they attack you
Then you win!
Happy Friday everyone! 🙂
Ps tried to format “then you win” into bold but couldn’t.
And a shout-out to Matt Goodwin for being such a gracious loser.
Free advice to the strategists at Labour HQ:
* Get Single Transferable Voting in place for the House of Commons before the next general election.
* Make a sincere, adequate apology to the Greens for slandering them during the by-election campaign.
* Get to work forming electoral coalitions with all the parties except the Tories and Reform.
A vote for hope! Happy Friday. A stand out candidate in Hannah Spencer. Amazing volunteer support from Green Party members and other progressives (many former Labour activities cleared out by the of the Party!) from across the North West and beyond . Green Party had little base in the constituency.
Roll on the local election in May. Keep an eye on Newcastle where the sitting Labour Party are in disarray and Green Party is poised for a strong campaign. Candidates including Jamie Driscoll former Labour Metro Mayor for North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Jamie Driscoll has a good history of getting things done locally, doesn’t he? So this is hopeful.
I like Jamie.
Well done to Ms Spencer, clearly her message resonated with voters. Also a local candidate vs the Deform wierdo.
Predictably, Deform claimed it was all unfair. (Doubtless Fart-rage would love to disenfranchise people with a skin colour different from his).
As for LINO I leave it to The Specials to deliver a message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntvEDbagAw&list=RDcntvEDbagAw&start_radio=1
Actions or lack thereof have consequences. Country wanted change, LINO said it would deliver that change, it didn’t (well done Starmer/Reeves/McSweeney).
This is yet another by-election where LINo has been wiped out. As for the tories – did they lose their deposit? I do hope so.
Good song…
It is the most wonderful news and Hannah gave a brilliant speech. I can even put up with all the political pundits talking about Labour voters lending their vote to the Greens! It puts both Reform and Labour in their place and shows that there are decent people in our country who don’t swallow all the lies put out in the MSM. There is hope that people want a politics of care not division.
The speech was brilliant
And there was a good exchange with the Labour candidate on the platform. I didn’t observe any handshake from the Reform candidate.
Absolutely wonderful news and as you rightly put it HOPE has won. The politics of care has arrived and your blog points us towards a change to a fair and equitable society. Thank you and I have to admit I too felt the same last night. This morning I feel euphoric and its tremendous to see vibrant youth leading the way.
🙂
I see that Starmer, the Labour Government and Party are so enthralled by the private sector that they truly believe that the distribution and sale of heroin should be managed by the market, despite its illegality, rather than controlled by the State so that its use can be eliminated.
Another step forward for the Green Party and a signal that change is possible. I was connected to the campaign by one of the WhatsApp groups. The effort on the ground was extraordinary.It was led and supported by people who care about others.
Those of us will have said the county generally leans too the left overall are hoping that this is representative of that. That people don’t want the politics of the right, they just want an alternative to the status quo, and when presented with a supportive, progressive vision alongside a bigoted and divisive one, as a whole our compassion as a population wins.
It should also serve to push Labour to the left. The recent unexpectedly high monthly surplus might also be expected to be noted by Labour. After all, it can either resign itself to failure in May elections, or it and declare that the austerity and tough measures have worked their way through, and that it is now in a position to do more to make people’s lives easier and better.
Will it do this? Certainly the comments from some Labour MPs suggest make of them understand this is what is needed, calling for following Greens over chasing Reform. I wonder whether Starmer still wants to build up more headroom so that larger giveaways can be made nearer the next General Election.
We’ll see.
But what’s clear is that hope that the government will veer away from Reform, and that the country as a whole supports this, just got much stronger. This was a bad night for Reform.
Ah but nobody ever beat my speech when I wasnt elected to Bristol South in 1997 for the Greens
Usual thanks to everyone
Its been a long night and I would like to wish you all a safe journey home
Massive cheer from the election workers
🙂
I was watching the BBC live written reports from the count. They didn’t mention Reform once, although they may have done so in the interviews (I couldn’t have the sound on). For me that was one of the pluses of the night, apart from the result of course.
On the other hand, on the Today programme this morning, Nick Robinson seemed unable to contain his rage at Hannah’s victory. Perhaps, in the round, that adds up to balanced reporting from our BBC???
🙂
The turnout was about the same as the general election, about 48% (which it pretty awful, albeit typical for a safe seat or a by-election).
The Labour vote halved from 18,000 to 9,000. The Lib Dems halved from a much lower base, 1,400 to under 700. The Conservatives collapsed from 3,000 to 700. There was a large “other” at the last general election in the form of the Workers Party and those 4000 votes, as well as the 12,000 already mentioned went to the Greens and Reform. Reform doubled their vote from 5,000 to 10,000. Awful. The Greens added 10,000. Yay. The 26% swing is huge but not a record. But it is pretty unusual for two of the three national main parties to get under 2% of the vote.
Down the ballot, the Monster Raving Loonies beat the others, including Ben Habib’s Advance UK. These Reform splinters are going nowhere, but Labour and the Conservatives should be very worried. The usual two- or three-way split is just not there. Tactical voting is going to become increasingly important.
Surely to goodness at some point they are going to see the wisdom of proportional representation?
Much to agree with
I liked seeing Advance UK do quite so badly
But they will be Restore UK soon
And the STP is dead in the water
Goodwin described EXACTLY the type of algorithm-driven granular targeted big-tech social media messaging adapted to specific demographics, pioneered by Cambridge Analytica & used by the far right since before 2016 in both USA, and here and trialled in Africa.
He’s a lying hypocrite, and Gorton & Denton have politely and emphatically said, “No thanks”.