MANCHESTER
\nPolls opened Thursday in a crunch vote for Britain\u2019s ruling Labour party that is expected to highlight growing support for the hard-right and leftists particularly in England, where the traditional two-party system is fracturing.
\nDefeat for the government in the parliamentary by-election would add to the woes facing unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer who endures frequent mutterings about how long he can stay in office.
\nLabour has dominated the Manchester suburb of Gorton and Denton for decades and won almost 51 percent of the vote there at the July 2024 general election that swept Starmer to power.
\nLess than two years later, it is locked in a three-way fight for the seat with anti-immigration Reform UK led by Nigel Farage, and the Greens led by leftwinger Zack Polanski.
\nThe battle suggests British people appear increasingly willing to look toward insurgent parties to tackle long-standing, hot-button issues like the high cost of living and irregular immigration at the next general election, expected in 2029.
\n\u201cIt illustrates how the two main parties are losing so much support at the minute,\u201d University of Manchester politics lecturer Louise Thompson told AFP, referring to Labour and the main opposition Conservatives.
\n\u201cIt could be a real sign that they are in a lot of danger.\u201d
\nStarmer, whose five predecessors as prime minister were all Conservatives stretching back to 2010, has pitched the by-election as \u201ca battle of values.\u201d
\nHe told parliament on Wednesday that Reform offered only \u201cgrievance and division\u201d and accused its candidate of saying that \u201canyone who isn\u2019t white cannot be English.\u201d
\nStarmer also attacked the Greens\u2019 support for legalizing drugs, calling it \u201creprehensible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANCHESTER Polls opened Thursday in a crunch vote for Britain\u2019s ruling Labour party that is expected to highlight growing support for the hard-right and leftists particularly in England, where the traditional two-party system is fracturing. Defeat for the government in the parliamentary by-election would add to the woes facing unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-533718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n