Greens grab victory in Lammy’s backyard

Westminster has a new tradition on Friday mornings: analysing council by-election results. These days, such contests rarely make for good reading for Keir Starmer, with Labour now losing votes to every other parties across the country. Two council wards were of particular note this week. The first in Longdendale, Tameside in Greater Manchester saw Reform storm to victory with 47 per cent of the vote, with Labour’s share collapsing to just 25 per cent. Watch out Ange….

But it was another contest in the nation’s capital that caught Steerpike’s eye. For on the same night that Labour was shedding votes up north, they were losing a safe seat down south too – in David Lammy’s backyard of Haringey. In the London ward of St Ann’s, the Starmer army suffered a landslide defeat at the hands of the Greens. Eco-warrior Ruairidh Paton triumphed here with 55.4 per cent of the vote, while Labour only mustered 30.8