'It's A Catastrophe': Labour MP Hits Out At Keir Starmer After By-Election Disaster
A Labour MP has hit out at Keir Starmer after the party’s humiliating defeat in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Karl Turner said the result – in which the party came third behind the Greens and Reform UK – was “a catastrophe”.
In particular, he blamed the prime minister’s decision to block Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from being Labour’s candidate.
The by-election was triggered by the resignation on health grounds of Andrew Gwynne, who won the newly-created seat for Labour with a majority of nearly 13,500 at the 2024 general election.
Turner, the MP for Kingston-upon-Hull East, said: “The reality is we’ve ended up with a situation which we could have avoided, that’s just the truth. This was avoidable. But here we are, in Manchester, with the Greens. It’s the worst result the Labour Party could have ever had, frankly.
“So here we are with a situation where we can’t out-left wing the Greens, we tried to out-right wing Reform on immigration and other such matters.
“My message to Keir Starmer, the prime minister, is this: why don’t we try and be Labour?”
Turner added: “For crying out loud, start listening to Labour MPs, start listening to people who knock the doors, who’ve been doing it for ever.
“That’s the truth of where this Labour Party are. What on earth is the Labour Party doing? What on earth has the Labour Party come to? We’ve now come got the Greens in Manchester – it’s a catastrophe.”
“What on Earth is this Labour Party doing? What on Earth has the Labour Party come to?”
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) February 27, 2026
The Greens winning Manchester “is a catastrophe,” says @KarlTurnerMP. pic.twitter.com/xXpHF2q179
Left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon said “blame for Labour’s defeat lies squarely with Keir Starmer and his clique”.
In a post on X, he said: “They put factional interests over having the candidate best placed to win, Andy Burnham. If Labour is to be the “Stop Reform” party, then the leadership must stop treating progressive voters with contempt - and start appealing to them.
“That means a return to real Labour values - through policies like a Wealth Tax, public ownership of energy and water, and an ethical foreign policy that are all popular with the public.
“And it means ditching the approach of trying to ape Reform and kicking the left, that has alienated so many people who have voted Labour previously.”
But another Labour MP hit back at Turner and Burgon, telling HuffPost UK they “didn’t knock a single door between them”.