Voters go to polls in crucial bye-election test for U.K.’s Starmer

Voters in Manchester face a pivotal bye-election, testing Labour's strength under Starmer amid a tight three-way race.

Voters went to the polls in the Gorton and Denton constituency in south Manchester to choose a new MP in a three-way contest that has become a crucial test for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Anything other than a victory for Labour’s Angeliki Stogia on Thursday (February 26, 2026) could make it very difficult for Mr. Starmer to serve out his full term as Prime Minister. Reform’s candidate for the race is a former academic and GB News presenter, Matt Goodwin, and the Green Party’s candidate is local councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer. In the Runcorn and Helsby election in May last year, the only other byelection since the general election, the former Conservative-turned-Reform candidate managed to snatch the seat from Labour.

A recent poll by Opinium on voting intentions showed Labour at 28%, the Greens at 28% and the far-right nativist Reform U.K. party just behind at 27%. A total of 11 candidates are running for the seat, which was most recently held by Labour but became vacant after MP Andrew Gwynn resigned on health grounds. The MP was also under parliamentary investigation for the alleged sharing of inappropriate comments on fellow lawmakers and voters on a WhatsApp group.

Since Labour won the general election in July 2024, there have been repeated skirmishes within the party over policies from welfare spending to tax reforms, and a split in the vote, with progressives voting for the Greens — instead of tactically supporting Labour — could result in a victory for Reform.

Last month, party leaders on Labour’s governing body, including Mr. Starmer, had blocked the popular Greater Manchester mayor Andrew Burnham from resigning his post to contest the byelection. One of the arguments was that it would be a needless use of resources to conduct another election for the vacated mayoral seat in Greater Manchester but critics had argued that Mr. Starmer was wary of clearing a path to Westminster for Mr. Burnham and a potential challenge to his leadership.