| | Plumber Hannah Spencer embraced party leader Zack Polanski after becoming the Green Party’s fifth MP |  | Tony Diver Associate Political Editor | Labour’s third-place finish in Gorton and Denton this morning is a disaster for Sir Keir Starmer.
Not just because his party finished behind the Greens and Reform UK, who took 70 per cent of the vote between them, but because it will fuel the leadership crisis already under way in Westminster.
Hannah Spencer, the Green Party’s local plumber candidate, declared in her victory speech that “something brilliant is starting” for her party. She is correct, and that fact is dire news for No 10. .png) | The usual caveats about by-elections apply, of course. Mid-term contests are difficult for governing parties, and the media and political frenzy over an election in one seat tends to distort the vote.
However, there are also good reasons to think that this result heralds what is to come for the Prime Minister, rather than being a freak result.
The threat to Labour from the Left has never been more acute, and he is poorly equipped to fight it, having spent the past 18 months trying to see off the challenge from Reform.
For that reason, the real winner of this race is Angela Rayner. Labour’s Left-wing leader-in-waiting now looks set to hoover up support from anxious colleagues ahead of the next test for Sir Keir in the May elections.
As the sun breaks on the Green Party’s newly minted fifth constituency this morning, a leadership challenge feels somewhat closer.
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Tom Harris: Starmer’s personal humiliation is a disaster for the Labour Party ➤
Plus, read the full details of this bitter contest here ➤ | | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard The country’s woes resemble the shambles in Britain – but with one big difference Continue reading ➤ Hamish de Bretton-Gordon Does Putin really expect anyone to believe his ridiculous nuclear claims? Continue reading ➤ Rowan Pelling Harry and Meghan’s Jordan trip shows what an asset they could have been Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. | | Ruthie Henshall, seen backstage at Crazy For You in London in March 1993, said the book would document her romance with the Prince | | Ukrainian FPV drones have been adapted for different tactical scenarios | | Drones have revolutionised how wars are fought. They now inflict around 80 per cent of the casualties suffered by Russia on the battlefield every day, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. The Telegraph explains how Ukraine took drones off the shelf and developed them for fighting in a way that has rewritten the rulebook.
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For weekly analysis from the frontline, you can also sign up to our Ukraine: The Latest newsletter here. | |  | | Of all the Cathar castles, the one at Peyrepertuse is especially stunning | | Those who have visited the sun-drenched portion of southern France that stretches from Montpellier to Toulouse will, in all likelihood, have visited the region’s magnificent hilltop châteaux cathares, named after the 13th-century gnostic heretics. However, as the castles bearing their name enter the running for Unesco World Heritage status, many are asking who the Cathars were, and whether they existed at all. Continue reading ➤ | | | Katie Inglis and her family still find it difficult to talk openly about her father and what happened | | I was 21 when my dad died of a brain tumour, writes Katie Inglis. Despite his diagnosis three years earlier, we never spoke about his funeral. Planning it without him left us overwhelmed and guessing. I now know that talking about death is the ultimate act of love. Continue reading ➤ | | | A new energy revolution is rattling windows across Cornwall, writes Matt Oliver, our Industry Editor. Near Redruth, the United Downs deep geothermal power plant is pumping 190C water from 5km underground to generate 24/7 electricity and extract highly sought-after lithium. Despite the drilling triggering unnerving mini-earthquakes, experts believe the project will help tap into Britain’s vast thermal resources. For subscribers only ➤ | | | Cruz played a rotating set of five or six high-end, expensive guitars, writes Guy Kelly | | Given that his parents are worth £500m and he only turned 21 this week, you could forgive Cruz Beckham for putting off starting a career for a while – or indeed forever, writes Guy Kelly, Features Writer. Instead, he’s launching himself as the frontman of guitar band Cruz Beckham and the Breakers. Is he any good, though? On the first night of his debut tour, I joined Gary Neville, Jill Scott and 300 surprisingly middle-aged fans to find out. Continue reading ➤ | | | We’re known as a nation of tea lovers, but, according to recent figures, more of us are turning to coffee in recognition of its health benefits. Which is actually better? Two nutritionists compare our favourite hot beverages – and only one can be crowned the winner. Continue reading ➤ Here is another helpful article for you this morning: - The IHT403 is the most valuable inheritance tax form you’ll ever fill in. Telegraph Money explains why, and how to do it properly.
| | Tracey Emin with her celebrated artwork My Bed, which is part of a new retrospective of her work at London’s Tate Modern | Exhibition Tracey Emin: A Second Life ★★☆☆☆ Spotlit like a set for a kitchen-sink drama, Britain’s most notorious art installation appears two-thirds of the way through Tracey Emin’s patchy new retrospective. With its stained mattress and bedraggled sheets, My Bed (1998) looks as squalid as ever. If only more exhibits had the intensity of My Bed – which is, by far, the rawest, most powerful thing Emin has assembled. It reminds us that much of the actual art she’s produced is slight.
Read Alastair Sooke’s review ➤ Television Dirty Business ★★★★★ The most obvious comparison for Channel 4’s Dirty Business, a new real-life drama about Britain’s water companies, is ITV’s all-conquering Mr Bates vs The Post Office. Both tell stories of scandalous corporate malfeasance and how it destroyed the lives of innocent people. Both show the tenacity required for those ordinary people to do anything about it. Both are examples of what public service television can and should do in the age of mega-streamers, and both are excellent.
Read Benji Wilson’s review ➤ Film EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert ★★★★☆ This new Elvis Presley concert movie is an intimate, sweaty and explosively joyous experience that revives the King’s reputation as one of the greatest performers of all time. While researching his Oscar-nominated 2022 Elvis biopic, Baz Luhrmann uncovered 69 boxes of previously unseen footage and has edited the best of it together. Presley comes across as goofy, hyperactive and musical to his core, never happier than when he’s singing, moving and leading his band.
Read Neil McCormick’s review ➤ | First things last Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Heston Blumenthal, the chef who dares diners to think the unthinkable and eat the inedible, has had a new idea: serving meals back-to-front. The Telegraph’s Ed Cumming recently sampled his six-course “topsy turvy” lunch at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, from the nitrogen ice cream all the way through to the Earl Grey tea-cured salmon.
I’ve tended to read about Blumenthal’s gaudy innovations with scepticism (I admit, I haven’t actually tried them) but I was actively offended by this one. Some things you just dont do, and eating pudding first is among them.
Yet according to Telegraph readers – and this would surely mortify Blumenthal – it has very much been done before.
Claire Shackleton, for instance, recalled: “Every day my Grandad would come home for his lunch; he would eat his pudding, then my Grandma would have his main course ready. I never understood how, at the end, he could use the same spoon that he’d eaten his pudding with to scoop up his gravy. Ugh.”
Mark Brand added: “When I was a kid, I’d have my pudding first. My mother’s best friend asked why. I replied that I didn’t want to risk not being able to fit it in later.”
Paul Browne, meanwhile, pointed out: “This is a recreation of the Hysteron Proteron dining club at Oxford, where meals were eaten backwards. Members included Graham Greene and Neville Shute. Evelyn Waugh also referred to it in A Little Learning. It was revived at Trinity College, Oxford, where I once participated, starting the day in black tie with port and cigars.”
It was Roz Adams, however, who made me realise that my position may be a tad hypocritical: “I have often ordered a starter for dessert because I like to finish with a savoury taste,” she admitted. Given the choice, I will nearly always opt for cheese over something sweet at the end of a meal. What’s that about? Are you drawn to “topsy turvy” dining? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was BLOODLINE. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here.
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor | |
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