The Green Party has won the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Hannah Spencer has become the party’s fifth MP in parliament, after beating Reform UK, who finished second, and Labour, who came third, to the seat.
The Greens, who had earlier said they were “very confident of a win”, received 14,980 votes to claim a majority of more than 4,400 votes.
Reform picked up 10,578 votes, while Labour received 9,364 votes.
It is the Greens’ first-ever victory in a parliamentary by-election, and the first time the party has won a seat in the north of England.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Spencer said she “knew it was always possible” for the Greens to win in Gorton and Denton.
“There is an appetite here for change,” she said.
“There are people across this constituency and much further beyond who are rejecting the old political parties and who are coming together to fight for something better, but who are doing it positively and in a really hopeful way.”
Hannah Spencer celebrates with Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Pic: PA
Green Party leader Zack Polanski criticised Labour for what he called “a shameful, dirty campaign – spreading lies about Green policies and even faking a tactical voting website.”
“They knew they couldn’t win, but they risked splitting the vote and letting Reform in.
“People everywhere will now know that voting Green is the way to defeat Reform.”
The turnout for the vote was 47.6% of the electorate – slightly lower than the 47.8% at the 2024 general election – on a day that official election observer group Democracy Volunteers says it witnessed record numbers of illegal “family voting”.
Family voting is where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting, which is illegal under the 2023 Ballot Secrecy Act.
