Which Labour MPs are most at risk from independents, Greens and the Workers Party?

Labour’s election in triumph in July was a landmark victory for the party over the Conservatives. But of the seven seats Labour bled in this year’s election, only one was to the Tories.

The Greens’s co-leader Carla Denyer picked up one seat in Bristol, while five Labour-held seats were also won by independent candidates – usually a rare occurrence in British politics.

One of these independents was the party’s former leader Jeremy Corbyn, while the other four independent winners fought campaigns often revolving around the backlash at Labour’s stance on the war in Gaza.

READ MORE: Which Labour MPs at most at risk from Reform?

While these few losses had little impact on Labour’s overall majority, 52 seats won by Labour at the general election saw the Greens, independents, or the Workers’ Party of Britain come in second place – potentially presenting a headache for the party in future elections.

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Health Secretary Wes Streeting was one of the senior Labour figures closest to losing their seat to a dark horse challenger in July, only seeing off independent Leanne Mohamad by 528 votes in his Ilford North constituency.

Home Office minister Jess Phillips also narrowly defeated a challenger from the Workers’ Party of Britain – a far-left party led by George Galloway – in her constituency of Birmingham Yardley by 693 votes.

Before the general election was called, Phillips said the war in Gaza had been “undoubtedly an issue in my constituency”, and even predicted she risked losing her seat if a pro-Palestine independent candidate stood against her.

The Workers’ Party also finished in second place in the nearby Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North – Business and Trade Committee Chair Liam Byrne’s seat – albeit with a wider 1,566 vote gap.

Inner London proved to be a hotspot for surges in Green support, with several seats seeing the Greens come in second place to Labour. But the Yorkshire seat of Huddersfield was the closest miss for the Greens, with the party in second place behind Labour by 4,533 votes.

Of the 52 seats, 39 saw the Greens come in second place.

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