Durham Miners’ Association warns Labour faces ‘annihilation’

The stark warning from the Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) follows Labour’s defeat in Thursday’s by-election, which was won by the Green Party with a majority of 4,402.

Reform UK finished second, with Labour pushed into third place.

Alan Mardghum, secretary of the DMA, said: “The electorate of Gorton and Denton have sent a very clear message to the Labour Party and Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

“They don’t want an MP whose party political agenda does nothing to ease the pain and suffering of working class people.”

He added: “Like the majority of people in the country, they want a government that will deliver real change to enrich the lives of ordinary citizens, not a government that tries to ‘out Reform’ Reform.

“The lesson from Gorton and Denton is simple. The Labour Party and Government urgently need to change course or face electoral annihilation.”

The DMA organises the Durham Miners’ Gala, a large annual meeting of trade unionists, which takes place in the city in July.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets local party members at St Anne’s Church, in London, after the Green Party won the Gorton and Denton by-election. (Image: Stefan Rousseau / PA)

Labour MPs, unions and campaign groups have demanded a change of course from Sir Keir ahead of crucial elections in May, with warnings his days in No 10 could be numbered unless the party’s fortunes improve.

Former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the result should be a “wake-up call” for the party, calling for her colleagues to “be braver” and “rededicate” themselves to “a Labour agenda that puts people first”.

Sir Keir denied any plans to resign, saying: “I came into politics late in life to fight for change for those people who need it.

“I will keep on fighting for those people for as long as I’ve got breath in my body.”

Sir Keir also pledged to “fight against extremes in politics” on both the left and the right of the political spectrum.

“The Greens may have won here, but they simply do not have the resources, the activist base or the local knowledge to replicate this victory across the country,” he said.

Newly-elected Green MP for Gorton and Denton, Hannah Spencer, eats chips in curry sauce from a takeaway near her constituency office in Manchester. (Image: Andy Kelvin/PA Wire)

Green leader Zack Polanski said: “This is an existential crisis for the Labour Party.

“No longer can they try and scare people into saying they have to vote for something because they’re worried about the least-worst option.

“A vote for the Greens is a vote both to stop Reform, to stop Labour and for something hopeful and a plan.”