1 week ago
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By JILL LAWLESS
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a narrow escape this month, when tremors from the Jeffrey Epstein files shook his leadership and threatened to bring him down.
He faces new danger this week from a special election Thursday in northwest England, where his center-left Labour Party could face defeat by either the hardline anti-immigration party Reform UK or the self-styled “eco-populist” Green Party. Losing to either would drive home to Labour members how unpopular the prime minister is with voters on both left and right.
The election is in Gorton and Denton, a seat in Greater Manchester that has been Labour turf for a century. Yet Labour’s fortunes have fallen so far that University of Manchester political science professor Rob Ford says victory for Starmer’s party when results are announced early Friday would be considered a surprise “man-bites-dog” outcome.
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