I expected it to be close but they were demolished
Green Party wins Gorton and Denton by-election with Labour pushed into third by Reform
Submitted 2 days ago by danielquinn@lemmy.ca to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp8rjk02r0jt
Comments
RobotToaster@mander.xyz 1 day ago
tetris11@feddit.uk 1 day ago
I’d like to once again say “fuck BBC news” for painting Spencer like an idiot and for sucking off Goodwin
jabjoe@feddit.uk 1 day ago
What’s great about those numbers is Con+Reform is soooo far behind Lab+Lib+Greens.
The margin the Greens won by is so big that even if was more split with Labour, Reform still wouldn’t have one. Which will horrify Labour as people won’t fear vote splitting as much.
It’s one small bi-election, but I like what it says about the Overton window.
moderatecentrist@feddit.uk 21 hours ago
What’s great about those numbers is Con+Reform is soooo far behind Lab+Lib+Greens.
Because of our crappy first-past-the-post system though, the most likely next government (if an election were held soon) would be a Reform government, or maybe a Reform/Conservative government.
Reform’s support in recent polls has only been around 24% - 30%. So around 70% of British voters don’t support Reform. Nonetheless, because Reform polls better than any other individual party, they could run the next government. Like how Labour in 2024 only got 34% of votes, but this gave them 63% of seats.
If the anti-Reform vote continues to be split between Labour/Greens/LibDems/SNP (and even Tories, since there will be Tory voters who don’t like Reform) then Farage will be the next prime minister. Surely the best counter to Reform would be a big tent centrist or centre-left party with wide appeal.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 day ago
It’s actually quite reassuring that Labour are third and not second because as you say it indicates that the vote isn’t being split or at least not all that much. I suspect at least some of those Labour votes will have been concerns over splitting the vote and not wanting to do that, so going with the more traditional option. I suspect that subsequent elections (there’s one coming up in my constituency soon) will look at this result and see that it is in fact safe to vote green.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 day ago
The conservatives are pulling in monster raving loony party numbers that’s going to be embarrassing.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz 1 day ago
It’s not shown, but the MRLP actually contested this, they got 159 votes.
So the conservatives only received ~4 times the votes of the actual MRLP. I think I’d quit.
Aqarius@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Yeah, Im sure the MRLP can do better than that…
thehatfox@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Quite a different result from what the polls were predicting.
MrPoletki@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Best possible result.
Reform have been shown their arse.
Labour have been slapped around the face.
We got a real person sat in the HOC.
What’s not to like?
Wataba@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Good in principle, yes.
Still scary that the racist scum party are coming up second.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 day ago
What is reassuring is that the vote was nowhere near as close as the polls were suggesting it would be. Most of the polls were having the result being won by only a couple of hundred votes, but the greens won by thousands and thousands of votes.
That’s what all the whining is about. They didn’t get anywhere near the votes they were expecting and I’m sure their backers are starting to wonder if there’s really enough appetite in the UK for them to have any chance of winning. Because if they’re not going to win what’s the point in funding them? That and the fact that Goodwin is a sore loser.
danielquinn@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
Don’t ruin this for me :-)
als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com 1 day ago
Beautiful news.
Labour said they were the only ones who could defeat Reform. Turns out they lied yet again and it was they who should have stood down their candidate.
greyfrog@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Great news. I’ll admit, I think Labour are doing a pretty okay job but they are pandering to Reform voters a little too much and I’d like to vote for Greens at the next election.
I’m pretty sure though that I’ll have to tactically vote to keep Reform out.
danielquinn@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
That’s the really encouraging part of all this: Green is looking like the tactical choice now :-)
nialv7@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Also shows polls are bullshit
thlibos@thelemmy.club 1 day ago
Serious questions, not snark: Why does it matter who came in 2nd vs 3rd and why is the story being titled “Greens crush Labor” almost everywhere I see it? Is there something transformational about this single MP election?
danielquinn@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
I’d say that it’s for a few reasons:
- In this country’s broken electoral system, “tactical” voting is quite common. Until now, Labour has been heavily relying on the idea that they’ll be elected by default: the not-Conservative choice. When Reform ate the Tories’ lunch, they continued to push that they were “the only party that can beat Reform”. This result suggests that this reasoning no longer applies and indicates that Labour’s dominance as an alternative to the right-wing forces in the UK is ending.
- By pushing the traditional parties into 3rd, 4th, and 5th place, this election may mark the end of these guys in favour of the new challenger parties theatre both advocating for more direct action to combat the problems we have.
- Reform took 2nd, consuming the Tory vote almost entirely indicating that they’re the force to beat. This makes the relegations of #1 all the more relevant for those of us who think that Reform are dangerous fanatics.
- The Greens are unabashedly socialists and this result indicates that their position is resonating with voters far more than Labour’s “Tory light” platform. When the “labour” party gets spanked by a party that’s advocating for wealth taxes, that’s a Big Deal™.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Also on top of the other comment, the other major thing is that this happened in Manchester. A labour stronghold, and a seat that was supposed to be represented by Andy Burnham but then Starmer decided he was a threat so wouldn’t allow him in the party. This result is the first clear evidence that the left are sick of labour and they’re ridiculousness.
If labour had come in second it would have actually been a bad thing because it would mean that the Greens were split in the left-wing vote, but the fact that they were pushed down into third place indicates that they are not splitting the vote they are replacing it. That’s huge.
And it’s a win-win for liberal voters because either the greens will replace labour or this vote will give labour the kick up the arse that they need. Either way it demonstrates a desire for far more left left-wing policy than is currently being offered.
Egonallanon@feddit.uk 1 day ago
The cope coming from reform and labour is something. I wouldn’t even say the greens had remarkable eleftion
Mrkawfee@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Excellent news.
notsosure@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
The issue is that labor is competing with the greens, and this plays into Reform’s favor :-(
danielquinn@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
I just think it’s hilarious that Labour has for years been leaning on this “the Greens split the vote” line. Now that the shoe’s on the other foot, I’m betting they feel differently.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 day ago
This result actually indicates that it’s not. The Greens won, they beat out reform by so much that even if you add the conservative vote to the reform vote, they still lose. They kicked labor down into third place. That’s not splitting the vote.