Zack Polanski’s party achieved a seismic victory in Gorton and Denton (Alamy)
3 min read
The Green Party has achieved a seismic victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election, with the Labour Party pushed into third place.
Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer received 14,980 votes, equivalent to 40 per cent of the vote.
Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin came second, receiving 10,578 votes (28 per cent), while Labour’s Angeliki Stogia received just 9,364 votes (25 per cent).
The result is a major blow to Keir Starmer, with Labour having held the Greater Manchester seat for more than a century and returned a 13,000 majority just 18 months ago in the 2024 general election, winning 50 per cent of the vote.
The Prime Minister’s leadership is likely to come under renewed pressure as a result.
It could also be a sign of things to come for the government in May when elections are held in Wales, Scotland and at councils across England.
For the Greens, it is a stunning outcome, with Zack Polanski’s party growing its vote share in Gorton and Denton by nearly 28 per cent.
The contest was triggered when Andrew Gwynne resigned as Labour MP for Gorton and Denton in January on health grounds.
Speaking in the early hours of Friday morning, the Green Party’s Spencer said: “There is an appetite here for change, and 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.”
Spencer, who is a plumber and leads the Greens on Trafford Council, said the results “have shown that we don’t have to accept being turned against each other. We can demand better without hating each other”.
The result, the Greens’ first by-election victory, means that the party now has five MPs in Westminster.
It also further demonstrates the threat posed to Labour’s left flank by Polanski’s party. The Greens have surged in national opinion polls since the London Assembly Mayor became leader in September.
Polanski said that the result showed that “voting Green is the way to defeat Reform”.
“If we see a swing like this at the next general election, there will be a tidal wave of new Green MPs,” he added.
While Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had hoped to stand for Labour in the seat and return to Westminster as an MP, he was blocked from running by senior Labour figures.
Despite the move, PoliticsHome reported earlier this month that Labour was relying on the mayor to help hold the seat.
