Labour's plight has been compared to the Democrats' under Joe Biden (Image: Getty Images)
Labor under Sir Keir Starmer has been compared to the Democrats under Joe Biden, as the party reels at the loss of a once-safe seat to the Greens. New polling shows 47% of Labor voters would consider voting Green in a general election.
A Labor source said morale in the party is now “on the floor” but there is no prospect of a leadership challenge before the May local government and Scottish and Welsh Parliament elections.
The source said: “You'd be bonkers if you challenged him now because there's nothing we can do now… I think we absolutely get wiped out everywhere.”
Polling by Opinium found Sir Keir's net approval rating has fallen to minus 49 – his “lowest approval rating since he became prime minister and lower than any rating achieved by Theresa May, Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak”.
Just 15% of those polled approve of how he is doing his job, which puts him behind the Lib Dems' Sir Ed Davey (21%), the Greens' Zack Polanski (22%), the Tories' Kemi Badenoch (27%) and Reform UK's Nigel Farage (31%).
Labor MPs know the PM is unpopular in the country but any potential challenger will struggle to command support across the party.
The source said: “The only person who can get rid of Keir still is Keir. We find ourselves in the same situation the Democrats found themselves with Joe Biden.”
Read more: Five urgent questions that must be answered after the Gorton and Denton earthquake
Read more: Defiant message from Chagos island to Keir Starmer – 'We will not leave'
Hannah Spencer won Gorton and Denton for the Greens (Image: PA)
The PM is under pressure to shift the party Leftwards to stop support draining to the Greens following the loss of the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, widely seen as a potential leadership contender, said the defeat should be a “wake-up call” for the party, calling for colleagues to “rededicate” themselves to “a Labor agenda that puts people first”.
But a Labor frontbencher said the party would not be pushed Left by “the hypnotist” – a reference to Green party leader Zack Polanski's past as a hypnotherapist.
He said: “We won't change tact because of one pretty unique constituency and by-election. We didn't for George Galloway and we won't for the hypnotist.
“The country expects us to deliver the change they voted for. By fixing the system we inherited with a firm but fair approach, we will help unite the country.”
A Starmer loyalist urged for cool heads in the wake of the by-election, saying: “Let's not catastrophise what went on.”
Confident that people will see the country change for the better, the MP said: “Keir is head and shoulders the strongest member of our Labor cabinet.”
Angela Rayner is seen as a key contender for the Labor leadership (Image: PA)
A government source warned against learning the “wrong lessons” from the result, which saw Labor finish behind both the Greens and Reform UK. They dismissed the idea Labor is “losing Muslim voters over immigration” as “plain wrong”.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will make the case for cutting both legal and illegal migration in a major speech on Thursday. She is inspired by Denmark's success in driving down the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years and removing 95% of rejected asylum seekers.
A Labor MP said it was “absolute nonsense” the party should move Left, saying: “Since time immemorial, every Left-wing manifesto we've presented to the British people has been rejected. What is suddenly moving Left going to do for us?”
Sir Keir faces the challenge of stopping Labor voters drifting to both the Greens and Reform, for whom tackling illegal migration is a defining priority. Opinium found one in five (21%) Labor voters would consider voting for Nigel Farage's party.
Reform is a major threat to the Conservatives, with 42% of Tory voters saying they would consider backing it.
James Crouch, head of policy and public affairs at Opinium, said: “The Gorton and Denton defeat, alongside Keir Starmer's worst-ever ratings, shows just how shaky Labour's ground has become. With large swathes of its remaining voters eyeing the Greens, and the Conservatives equally exposed to Reform, the traditional bases of both major parties look more fragile than ever.”