Greens Achieve Historic Victory in Gorton and Denton By-Election
The Green Party has delivered a seismic political upset by winning the Gorton and Denton by-election, seizing a constituency that was long considered a Labour stronghold. This result marks a significant blow to Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party, which finished in a distant third place behind Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
Who Is Hannah Spencer?
Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green Party councillor, has been elected as the party's first Member of Parliament in northern England. She secured an impressive 40.7 percent of the vote, achieving a commanding majority of 4,402 votes. Her victory represents a remarkable personal and political achievement, transitioning from plumbing to Parliament.
Detailed Election Results
The final vote tally reveals the dramatic shift in political allegiances within this Manchester constituency. Reform UK candidate Matt Goodwin captured second place with 28.7 percent of the vote, amounting to 10,578 ballots. Meanwhile, Labour's support collapsed to just 25.4 percent, with only 9,364 votes cast for their candidate.
Comparing Vote Share Changes Since 2024
The transformation in voter sentiment becomes even more striking when examining the changes since the 2024 general election. At that time, Labour enjoyed a comfortable majority with 50.8 percent of the vote, while Reform UK secured 14.1 percent and the Greens trailed with 13.2 percent.
Just two years later, Labour's support has been precisely halved to 25.4 percent. Reform UK increased its share by 14.6 percentage points to reach 28.7 percent. However, the Greens achieved the most spectacular growth, more than tripling their vote share to 40.6 percent.
This represents a massive 26.4 percent swing from Labour to the Greens at the ballot box, creating one of the most significant by-election upsets in modern British political history. In fact, this marks the sixth largest Labour majority to be overturned at a by-election since the Second World War.
Turnout Figures and Historical Context
Voter participation remained remarkably consistent with the previous election, with turnout recorded at 47.6 percent – a negligible decrease of just 0.2 percentage points from 2024. Nevertheless, this figure remains substantially lower than the national average turnout of 59.7 percent recorded during the 2024 general election, which itself represented the lowest participation rate since 2001.
The Night's Other Significant Losers
Beyond Labour's dramatic collapse, both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats experienced further erosion of their already limited support in the constituency. The Conservatives finished in fourth place with a mere 1.9 percent share, translating to just 706 votes – a six percentage point decline from their 2024 performance.
The Liberal Democrats fared even worse, securing fifth position with only 1.8 percent of the vote and 653 ballots cast, representing a two percentage point decrease. These dismal results for Britain's second and third largest parliamentary parties carry financial consequences as well, with neither party recovering their £500 election deposits after failing to reach the five percent threshold required for refund.
The by-election was triggered when former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne stepped down for health reasons, creating an unexpected opportunity that the Green Party has capitalized upon with remarkable effectiveness. This victory establishes a significant northern foothold for the Greens and raises serious questions about Labour's traditional dominance in urban constituencies across northern England.
