Labour is stubborn in defeat because it knows this: we face the belated end of the political 20th century | John Harris

"No matter that Spencer's brilliant victory speech lucidly reminded anyone listening of the everyday struggles that now tie together a huge swathe of voters: she was, he said, more interested in dividing people than uniting them. In deliberately targeting Muslim voters, in fact, she and her party had engaged in divisive, sectarian politics, an allegation with discomfiting echoes of the post-byelection poison being spread around by Nigel Farage and his allies."

"The tone of a letter he wrote to Labour parliamentarians was self-righteous, arrogant, and deluded. Far from being harmless environmentalists, Starmer went on, the Gorton and Denton victors are the merchants of extreme policies like legalising all drugs and pulling out of Nato."

"Implicitly, what he said stood in sharp contrast to how his party has reacted to the rise of Reform UK. Whereas so-called red wall residents who have moved to the right have been lionised by Labour insiders"

Following Labour's third-place finish in the Gorton and Denton byelection, Keir Starmer chose confrontation over reflection. Rather than congratulating Green winner Hannah Spencer or acknowledging the legitimate concerns about inequality she championed, Starmer accused her of divisive, sectarian politics targeting Muslim voters. He characterized the Greens as extremists promoting drug legalization and NATO withdrawal, dismissing voters as foolish for rejecting Labour's local candidate. This response mirrors rhetoric from Nigel Farage and contrasts sharply with Labour's treatment of voters shifting toward Reform UK, revealing inconsistent political instincts and a failure to address the party's recent calamities and internal discord that alienated supporters.

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