Aside from saving the planet, the Green manifesto is a treasure trove of policies ranging from the ambitious to the somewhat bizarre, most notably – legalising Heroin. They are well and truly on a high today.

But what does their victory mean for their rivals? Reform UK’s Matthew Goodwin came second while Sir Keir Starmer suffered fresh humiliation with Labour struggling in third place.

If they want to form a majority at the next general election Nigel Farage must find a way to defeat a fragmented system which could produce a five-way split in the vote.

Labour – who had won in this area for almost a century – only came third with the party having thrown the kitchen sink behind candidate Angeliki Stogia in the past few days.

Grumblings over Sir Keir’s leadership are surely going to get louder again.

Labour’s woeful performance is likely to foreshadow May’s upcoming elections in Wales, Scotland and local councils in which they are facing wipeout.

Meanwhile, the Tories will have some headscratching to do after suffering the indignity of losing their by-election deposit after only securing a measly 1.9% share of the vote.

The Unthinkable Just Became Reality as Greens Surge to Victory in Crunch By-Election

The result that many in Westminster had not expected has now happened. The Green Party has won the Gorton and Denton by-election, overturning a Labour majority of more than 13,000 votes and pushing Keir Starmer’s party into third place.

Hannah Spencer, a local councillor and plumber, secured 14,980 votes for the Greens, taking 40.7 per cent of the vote. Reform UK finished second with 10,578 votes, while Labour’s Angeliki Stogia received 9,364. Spencer’s majority was 4,402.

The result is significant not simply because Labour lost a parliamentary seat. It shows how quickly the political balance inside a traditionally Labour area can change when voters have several competing alternatives.

For the Green Party, it is a landmark victory. For Labour, it creates difficult questions about its relationship with voters. For Reform UK, second place provides further evidence that the party can compete seriously even in constituencies where the Conservatives have historically been weak.

Most importantly, the result demonstrates that the old assumption that some seats are naturally safe for particular parties is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

A Result Few Expected

Gorton and Denton had long been regarded as Labour territory.

At the 2024 general election, Labour won the constituency with 18,555 votes and a majority of 13,413. The party appeared to have a substantial electoral cushion.

The by-election produced something completely different.

Labour’s vote fell to 9,364, while the Greens increased their support dramatically. Reform also made major gains and finished ahead of the governing party.

The official figures show just how dramatic the change was:

• Green Party – Hannah Spencer: 14,980 votes, 40.7%
• Reform UK – Matt Goodwin: 10,578 votes, 28.7%
• Labour – Angeliki Stogia: 9,364 votes, 25.4%
• Conservative – Charlotte Cadden: 706 votes, 1.9%
• Liberal Democrats – Jackie Pearcey: 653 votes, 1.8%

Turnout was 47.62 per cent, with 77,501 people registered to vote.

The figures leave little doubt about the scale of the transformation.

The Greens did not win by a handful of votes. They finished more than 4,400 votes ahead of Reform and more than 5,600 ahead of Labour.

For a party that has historically struggled to convert national support into large numbers of Westminster seats, this was an important breakthrough.

Hannah Spencer Makes History

Hannah Spencer’s victory has particular significance for the Greens.

She becomes the party’s first MP elected through a parliamentary by-election and its first MP in northern England. Parliament formally confirmed her election following the contest held on 26 February 2026.

Spencer’s background also became an important part of the campaign.

She is a local councillor and plumber rather than a long-established Westminster politician. Her victory consequently gave the Greens an opportunity to present themselves as a party capable of producing candidates with strong connections to local communities.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski described the result as an important moment for his party and argued that it demonstrated the Greens could compete in areas where they had previously struggled to win parliamentary representation.

The result will inevitably encourage further debate about the Greens’ potential.

However, one by-election cannot establish how the party would perform nationally. By-elections have their own dynamics, including local campaigning, candidate profiles, turnout and tactical voting.

What the result does establish is that the Greens have demonstrated an ability to win a constituency that Labour previously regarded as highly secure.

Labour’s Dramatic Collapse

The most striking feature of the result from Labour’s perspective is the fall in its vote.

The party went from more than 18,500 votes in 2024 to fewer than 9,400 in the by-election.

Its share fell from more than half of the vote to 25.4 per cent.

That creates an obvious question: where did the former Labour voters go?

The result alone cannot provide a definitive answer.

Some voters may have moved to the Greens. Others may have backed Reform. Some may have supported smaller parties, while others may simply have stayed at home.

Nevertheless, the three-way nature of the result is revealing.

Labour was squeezed simultaneously by parties on both sides of the political spectrum.

The Greens attracted voters seeking an alternative on the left, while Reform established itself as a significant challenger from the right.

That presents Labour with a complicated electoral problem.

Pressure on Keir Starmer

The defeat inevitably put renewed attention on Keir Starmer’s leadership.

The prime minister described the result as “very disappointing” but also argued that incumbent governments can face difficult by-election results during a parliamentary term. He said he understood that voters were frustrated and impatient for change and pledged to continue fighting.

The political significance of the result, however, goes beyond one response from the prime minister.

Labour now faces questions about whether its current political strategy is successfully maintaining support among voters who previously regarded the party as their natural political home.

The Greens’ success is particularly relevant because the party has positioned itself as an alternative for voters who believe Labour has moved away from some of its traditional priorities.

This creates a difficult balancing act for Starmer.

Moving in one direction could risk losing voters to Reform. Moving in another could create opportunities for the Greens or other parties.

The Gorton and Denton result demonstrates that Labour cannot assume that dissatisfaction will automatically benefit the Conservatives.

Reform’s Strong Second Place

The Greens’ victory understandably dominates the headlines, but Reform UK’s performance is another important part of the story.

Matt Goodwin received 10,578 votes, giving Reform 28.7 per cent of the vote.

That placed the party more than 1,200 votes ahead of Labour.

For Reform, the result demonstrates that its appeal is not confined to constituencies traditionally associated with Conservative support.

Gorton and Denton is a Greater Manchester constituency with a long Labour history. Yet Reform managed to establish itself as the second-largest political force in the contest.

This creates a very different electoral landscape from the traditional Labour-Conservative competition.

The Greens were first.

Reform was second.

Labour was third.

The Conservatives were a distant fourth.

Such a result would have been extremely difficult to imagine under Britain’s traditional two-party electoral pattern.

The Conservatives’ Difficult Night

The Conservative result was also striking.

Charlotte Cadden received just 706 votes, equivalent to 1.9 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats received 653 votes, or 1.8 per cent.

Both parties therefore lost their deposits after failing to reach five per cent of the vote.

For the Conservatives, the result illustrates the extent to which Reform has altered competition on the right.

Rather than the Conservatives emerging as Labour’s principal challenger, Reform occupied that position in Gorton and Denton.

The result therefore contains difficult questions for both major traditional parties.

Labour lost a long-standing stronghold.

The Conservatives barely registered as a factor.

Meanwhile, two parties that traditionally had much smaller parliamentary footprints took the first two positions.

Is British Politics Changing?

The Gorton and Denton result has already prompted wider discussion about the structure of British politics.

The traditional model was relatively straightforward: Labour and Conservatives competed for government while smaller parties struggled to convert votes into Westminster seats.

The latest result provides a different picture.

Greens and Reform together received more than two-thirds of the votes cast.

That does not mean Britain has permanently abandoned the traditional parties.

Nor does one by-election provide a reliable forecast of a future general election.

But it does demonstrate that voters are willing to consider alternatives when circumstances change.

The implications could therefore be significant for future campaigns.

Labour must compete with the Greens for voters on its left while also defending itself against Reform.

The Conservatives must contend with Reform for voters on the right.

The Greens must determine whether their victory can be replicated elsewhere.

And Reform must demonstrate that strong performances can be converted into broader electoral success.

Why the Result Matters

The importance of Gorton and Denton lies partly in the fact that it was not merely a narrow protest vote.

The Greens won with 40.7 per cent.

Reform secured 28.7 per cent.

Labour received 25.4 per cent.

The margin between the Greens and Labour was therefore substantial.

That gives the result a significance beyond the simple loss of one parliamentary seat.

For Labour, it raises questions about its electoral coalition.

For the Greens, it provides a historic parliamentary breakthrough.

For Reform, it demonstrates that the party can challenge strongly outside traditional Conservative territory.

And for the wider political system, it offers another example of an increasingly fragmented electorate.

What Happens Next?

The crucial question is whether Gorton and Denton represents an isolated political shock or part of a broader transformation.

Only future elections can answer that.

By-elections should always be treated carefully. Turnout, local issues and candidate quality can produce results that do not necessarily repeat at a general election.

Nevertheless, the result has created a new political reality in this constituency.

Hannah Spencer is now the MP.

The Greens have won their first parliamentary by-election.

Reform has demonstrated significant support.

Labour has lost a seat it previously held with a majority of more than 13,000.

And the Conservatives have been reduced to less than two per cent.

For Keir Starmer, the immediate challenge is to understand why such a large number of voters who previously backed Labour chose another party.

For Zack Polanski and the Greens, the challenge is to determine whether this breakthrough can be followed by further parliamentary gains.

For Reform, the task is to build on its second-place finish.

The unthinkable has therefore become reality in Gorton and Denton.

A constituency once regarded as a Labour stronghold has changed hands, and the result has exposed a political landscape in which established loyalties are no longer guaranteed.

The by-election does not determine Britain’s political future.

But it has provided one of the clearest recent demonstrations that the country’s political map is changing — and that the Greens and Reform are now capable of competing in places where the old political assumptions once appeared secure

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