UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has bemoaned the Labour Party’s loss in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Green Party’s Hannah Spencer won the Gorton and Denton by-election.
He said that it was a “very disappointing result” for Labour, who lost the seat to the Greens and finished in third behind Reform UK.
The constituency had historically been considered a Labour safe seat. Until today, Labour had not lost an election in the Gorton and Denton area since 1931. The historic win for the Green Party ended that winning streak, and Labour’s fall in the vote share was significant.
Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber, won 14,980 votes, making up nearly 41% of the votes cast. Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin came second, with 10,578, while Labour’s Angeliki Stogia came third with 9,364.
Starmer told reporters that incumbent governments “quite often get results like that mid-term.”
Despite this, Starmer said that he understands that voters are “frustrated” and “impatient for change.” He added, “I will keep on fighting for those people for as long as I’ve got breath in my body.”
Separately, Labour Party Chair, Anna Turley also called the result “clearly disappointing.”
Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin, who came second behind the Greens, said that Reform UK has “embarrassed Labour in one of their strongest seats.””Sixth safest Labour seat. And I think if we can do this here, we can do this pretty much anywhere,” he said after the party knocked Labour into third place.
Hitherto, the Greens had never won more than 10% of the vote in a parliamentary by-election, a figure they reached in the Somerton and Frome by-election in 2023.
Now Hannah Spencer has already claimed her place in the history books as the first ever Green candidate to win a parliamentary by-election. Not only did Spencer win, but she won well, significantly outperforming the expectations of the polls.
Rather than winning narrowly, the party won 40.7%, enough to put them as much as 12 points ahead of second placed Reform. It represented as much as a 27.5 point increase on the party’s share in 2024.
Labour, who had not hitherto lost an election in the area since 1931, fell into third place. The party’s 25.4% of the vote represented a near-halving of their 50.8% of the vote in 2024 and the 13th biggest fall in the party’s support in a by-election
Meanwhile, the Conservatives lost their deposit with just 1.9% of the vote, their worst ever by-election result.
“Existential Crisis For Labour”
Speaking at the Green Party victory rally in Gorton and Denton, Greater Manchester, Zack Polanski commended his party for having “torn the roof of British politics” and calling their by-election victory “seismic.”
The Green Party leader congratulated new MP Hannah Spencer and the wider team on running the “most incredible campaign”, which he said was crystal clear on what the Green Party stands for.
Polanski stated, “The starting gun has fired on local elections in 70 days time,” adding that there are “new Hannah Spencers” across the UK who want to run for the Green Party. “This is an existential crisis for the Labour Party,” he said.
At the rally, Spencer thanked the people of Gorton and Denton, saying that she’s “honoured” to be selected to represent them in Parliament.
Outlining her aims, Spencer said that she wants to bring down the cost of living, introduce rent controls and sort out fly-tipping.
She also accused the Labour Party of having “stooped so low”, but stated that she’s proud of the Green Party’s “positive campaign” in this by-election:
“Everyone deserves a voice in our democracy – we’ve rejected hate and embraced hope.”
Hannah Spencer
The new MP said that the by-election shows there is “no longer any such thing as a safe seat”, and there’s “no part of the country where the Green Party cannot win.”
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