Following the retirement of former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, a by-election was held in Manchester’s Gorton and Denton parliamentary district on Thursday. Hannah Spencer, the Green Party of England and Wales candidate, was proclaimed the winner. This election represents both the first Green Party election victory in the North of England and the first parliamentary by-election won by a Green Party candidate.
With slightly less than 41% of the vote, Spencer will become the fifth current Green Party MP. This puts him 12% ahead of Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin, who came in second with slightly less than 29%. Following several high-profile scandals in recent months, the election was eagerly awaited as a test of confidence for the incumbent Labour government. The Labour candidate lost 25% of the vote compared to 50% in the general election of 2024. The constituency had not been lost by a Labour Party candidate since 1931 and was formerly seen to be the sixth safest seat for the party in Britain.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, had submitted an application to run as the party’s candidate, but it was rejected by the National Executive Committee due to concerns that Labour would lose the ensuing mayoral by-election and that he would challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for leadership. “This result must be a wake up call,” declared former Labour Party deputy leader and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner as the election added to the growing.
