A UK election win for the Green Party is a nightmare for Labour and Starmer. Here are the takeaways

LONDON (AP) — An emphatic election victory for Britain’s environmentalist Green Party is a nightmare for Prime Minister Keir Starmer that raises questions about how long he will continue as leader.

Less than two years after winning power in a landslide, Starmer’s center-left Labour Party not only lost a longtime stronghold in its northern England heartlands — it came third, finishing behind both the left-leaning Greens and the hard-right party Reform U.K.

Thursday’s election in the Gorton and Denton constituency of Greater Manchester was for just one seat out of 650 in the House of Commons. But it’s a glimpse into the messy new reality of British politics, and its consequences could be far-reaching.

Here are takeaways from the election.

The result is a heavy blow to Starmer, whose leadership has staggered through a series of crises and suffered a near-death experience earlier this month.

Since being elected in July 2024, Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living. His government has been sidetracked by missteps and U-turns over welfare cuts and other unpopular policies.

The next national election does not have to be held until 2029, meaning the main threat to Starmer comes from within his own party. Under British rules, the governing party can change prime minister without having to go to voters.

Three weeks ago it looked like that might happen, when indirect fallout from a trove of Jeffrey Epstein files released in the United States caused discontent to boil over.

Several Labour lawmakers and the party's leader in Scotland called for Starmer to resign, his chief of staff and communications director quit, and his premiership teetered on the brink.

Starmer vowed to stay, and got a reprieve after potential leadership rivals publicly backed him. But his already precarious position is now even shakier, and he faces peril after May 7 local and regional elections, when Labour is expected to do badly.

Jon Trickett, a Labour lawmaker on the left of the party, said Friday that Starmer should “look in the mirror and make a decision about his own personal future.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said the result shows that “Labour’s electoral stranglehold is over.”

For a century, U.K. national politics has been dominated by two parties: the Conservatives on the right and Labour on the left. Unlike many European countries, Britain does not have a system of proportional representation, meaning that smaller parties have struggled to break through.

But that is changing. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own distinct parties. And new parties on both left and right are snatching an increasing share of the vote.

Reform U.K., the latest party led by anti-immigration campaigner Nigel Farage, has just eight seats in the House of Commons but has topped opinion polls for months, ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives.

The Greens, under their new leader, the “eco-populist” Polanski, have broadened their message beyond environmental concerns to focus on issues including the cost of living, legalization of drugs and support for the Palestinian cause, positioning themselves as an alternative to Labour for left-liberal voters.

Newly elected lawmaker Hannah Spencer is a 34-year-old plumber who in her victory speech apologized to customers for having to cancel appointments so she could start her new job in Parliament.

She spoke of issues that should be Labour’s terrain: the cost of living, frayed public services and the erosion of opportunities in former industrial areas that traditionally voted Labour.

“For people here in Gorton and Denton who feel left behind and isolated: I see you and I will fight for you,” Spencer said.

The result drives home Labour’s predicament: It faces challenges from both left and right.

Thursday’s election was in a diverse area that has traditional working-class neighborhoods — once strongly Labour, now tilting toward Reform — as well as large numbers of university students and Muslim residents. Many of them feel disillusioned by Labour’s centrist shift under Starmer and the government’s perceived slowness at criticizing Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza — fertile ground for the Green Party.

Rob Ford, a professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said the result was “the nightmare scenario for the incumbent government.”

“They have fallen into the electoral Valley of Death,” Ford wrote on social media. “Rejected in the center. Rejected on the right. And now rejected on the left.”

In the wake of the defeat, many in Labour called for a change of direction, saying efforts to win over “Reform-curious” voters with policies aimed at curbing immigration had alienated many liberal electors.

“If the Labour Party thinks it can win an election by moving on to the territory which has been occupied by Mr. Farage and his party, they’ve made a big mistake,” Trickett told Times Radio. He said the party had made the mistake of assuming "that the progressive voters had nowhere else to go.”

The contest was tinged by the increasing bitterness and polarization in British politics. Reform leader Farage said he had contacted the election regulator and police about reports by an observer group about cases of “family voting,” when more than one person enters a voting booth. It is illegal for one person to direct another how to vote.

Farage claimed the incidents were in “predominantly Muslim areas.”

Opponents accused Reform of echoing U.S. President Donald Trump by attempting to discredit the result of a free and fair election.

Starmer has been tainted by fallout from scandals about Jeffrey Epstein, a man he never met and in whose crimes he’s not implicated.

The leadership crisis earlier this month was sparked by revelations about the relationship between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, the veteran Labour politician appointed by Starmer in 2024 to be U.K. ambassador to Washington.

Police are investigating emails suggesting Mandelson passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. Mandelson was arrested and questioned by detectives this week before being released on bail. He does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct.

Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after evidence emerged that the ambassador had maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. But recent revelations have stirred up Labour lawmakers’ anger at Starmer’s poor judgment in appointing Mandelson to the Washington job in the first place.

On Friday Starmer acknowledged the result was disappointing, but vowed to “keep on fighting.”

“Incumbent governments quite often get results like that mid-term, but I do understand that voters are frustrated," he said. "They’re impatient for change.”

Green Party newly elected Member of Parliament Hannah Spencer looks on as party leader Zack Polanski speaks at a press conference after her win in the Gorton and Denton by-election, in Manchester, England, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

The count begins after voting ends in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Manchester, England, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

The Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer speaks after winning the Gorton and Denton by-election, Manchester, England, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

CORRECTS DATE - Greens Party candidate Hannah Spencer, left, stands with party leader Zack Polanski after winning the Gorton and Denton by-election, Manchester, England, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets local party members, in London, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer, right, celebrates with party leader Zack Polanski at a volunteer thank you event after winning the Gorton and Denton by-election, Manchester, England, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scouting America will alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender youths, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday as he pushes a campaign against military support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Defense Department in January, which included discontinuing its Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge as well as waiving registration fees for the children of military personnel.

Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture” efforts that he wants to root out.

Hegseth said in a video posted on X that the Pentagon will “vigorously review” the changes the organization has made in six months and will cease its support of Scouting America if it fails to comply.

“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could,” Hegseth said. “Ideally I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”

Scouting America, which is based in Irving, Texas, didn’t immediately comment.

The organization began allowing gay youth in 2013, ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015 and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting girls as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program — renamed Scouts BSA — in 2019. As of May 2024, more than 6,000 girls had earned the coveted Eagle Scout rank.

The Pentagon said in a statement earlier this month that it was reviewing its relationship with Scouting America, claiming it had “lost its way” in many ways and calling the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts “unacceptable.”

“Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration,” the Feb. 6 statement said, ”including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.”

The Pentagon previously said it and Scouting America were nearing an agreement to continue their partnership if the organization “rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms.”

“Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles,” the statement said. “Back to God and country—immediately!"

The U.S. military and the Boy Scouts have had longtime ties, including the military providing logistical support for the National Boy Scout Jamboree since its inception in 1937.

The military also has a long history of sponsoring Scout troops and activities on U.S. military bases and has maintained a strong relationship with the Eagle Scouts, whose members often enlist in the armed forces.

In a statement last year, Scouting America raised concerns following a report from NPR that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as for the National Jamboree and would eliminate increases in pay grade for Eagle Scouts who enlist.

The Scouts told Hegseth in January that after hearing his suggestions, they had come up with a plan for him to review, which included discontinuing their Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, waiving registration fees for military personnel and holding a ceremony to rededicate themselves to leadership, duty to God, duty to country and service, besides dissolving their DEI board committee.

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America achieved a vaunted status in the U.S. over the decades, with pinewood derbies, the Scout Oath and Eagle Scouts becoming part of the lexicon.

Lore has it that American businessman William Boyce was inspired to start the organization after he became lost in the fog in London and was guided to his destination by a youth who turned down a tip, telling Boyce that because he was a scout (they were formed in Britain in 1907) he couldn’t accept money for a good deed.

Since then, the organization has faced controversies and undergone significant changes.

In 1990, the organization expelled an Eagle Scout who had become an assistant scoutmaster after discovering he was co-president of his university’s gay and lesbian organization. He sued in 1992 alleging discrimination and lost at the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Scouts could maintain membership and leadership criteria that excluded gay people.

Conservative groups rallied around the Boy Scouts, but scores of institutions curtailed support as the ban continued. The ban ended in 2013. In 2015, the organization ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.

In 2017, the Boy Scouts announced that they would allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll in their boys-only programs. That came after an 8-year-old was asked to leave his Scout troop in New Jersey after parents and leaders found out he was transgender.

The Boy Scouts also faced a flood of sexual abuse claims and sought bankruptcy protection in 2020, when it had been named in about 275 lawsuits and had told insurers it was aware of another 1,400 claims.

In 2023, a judge upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed claims saying they were sexually abused while in scouting.

Last year, Scouting America’s President and CEO Roger Krone acknowledged some backlash to the rebrand but described the overall response as a positive one that generated wider interest.

“The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it,” Krone said.

The organization said it saw a gain in membership of about 16,000 new scouts, less than 2% from the prior year. The organization said at the time that it had just over 1 million members.

Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth enters the House Chamber before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)