The Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has described today’s by-election result as ‘a really tough day for the party’.
But David Skaith said he didn’t believe the voters pushing Labour into third place had any bearing on the party’s prospects in York.
The Green Party won its first ever parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton, dealing a bitter blow to Sir Keir Starmer.
Labour’s defeat, trailing in third behind Zack Polanski’s Greens and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the previously rock-solid Greater Manchester constituency, will pile pressure on the Prime Minister.
Hannah Spencer, a councillor and plumber, emerged victorious for the Greens, with 14,980 votes and a majority of 4,402 votes.
Reform UK’s candidate Matt Goodwin got 10,578 votes, with Labour’s Angeliki Stogia trailing on 9,364, down from 18,555 in the 2024 general election, when the turnout was similarly high.
Conservative candidate Charlotte Cadden received just 706 votes, with the Liberal Democrats getting 653.
David Skaith gave his reaction to the result to YorkMix. “From Labour’s perspective, it has been a really tough day for the party.
“It’s shown that we haven’t been able to get the message out there strong enough of the great work that the Labour government are doing, and particularly the work that’s been happening over in Manchester for decades.
“It is the fastest growing region in the country, and the work that’s gone over in Manchester has been driven by a Labour mayor and a lot of Labour politicians over there. So it is incredibly disappointing.”
But he felt there was a silver lining. “The one big positive is, though, is fundamentally, the overall majority of people have voted for left leaning parties.
“Labour and the Green vote coming together has completely trounced the Reform Party, which is wonderful to see. If Labour can’t win, I’d much rather see a Green MP over there, much rather that than having a Reform MP over there.”
Keir Starmer prevented Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from representing Labour in the by-election.
If he had been the candidate, would it have made a difference? “Who knows?” Mr Skaith said.
“He’s an incredibly hard working, brilliant mayor who’s done a huge amount of work over in that region for many years. He has a great name, a great reputation over there. Who knows?”
And does the vote have a wider bearing for Labour in York and North Yorkshire?
“No. We always know it’s really difficult to win any by-election. It always has been for any party.
“If you go over there right now, it is an incredibly difficult seat to win as well.
“But I don’t think it changes anything else anywhere else. We’ve just got to continue the great work that we’re doing over here. And when we have our elections coming up next year, we will be fighting those front on.”
