The Green Party has decisively won the Gorton and Denton by-election in a humiliation for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, which came in third behind Reform UK.
Green candidate Hannah Spencer won 14,980 votes, 40.7 percent of the total, in a seat that was won by Starmer’s party less than two years ago.
Reform candidate Matt Goodwin came in second place with 10,578 votes (28.7 percent), and Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia received 9,364 votes (25.4 percent).
The Conservatives, the party governing the UK as recently as July 2024, won only 1.9 percent of the vote.
Spencer, a plumber and plasterer by profession, said in her victory speech on Friday morning that she will “work hard” for everyone in Gorton and Denton.
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“Our struggles might not be the same… but we stick up for each other,” she said.
“Life has changed. Instead of working for a nice life… we’re working to line the pockets of billionaires. We are being bled dry.
“I think everybody should get a nice life. Clearly, I’m not the only person who thinks that.”
Spencer slammed politicians who she said “scapegoat” others.
This follows a ferocious by-election which saw the Greens face off against Reform and Labour.
More than 40 percent of people in Gorton and Denton are ethnic minorities and one in four are Muslim.
During the campaign, the Greens accused Reform candidate Matt Goodwin of making racist statements. Goodwin has a track record of making controversial comments about ethnicities and Muslims.
On Wednesday, Labour accused the Greens of “manipulating Muslim voters”, a claim Green candidate Spencer told Middle East Eye amounted to “racist dog whistles”.
Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia declined to speak to reporters at the vote count Friday morning.
The result is expected to increase pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Labour’s leadership blocked Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, widely viewed as a possible challenger to Starmer, from contesting the seat.
After the defeat, Goodwin said “we are losing our country” and claimed a “dangerous Muslim sectarianism” had emerged.
“We have only one general election left to save Britain,” Goodwin said.
Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed: “This election was a victory for sectarian voting and cheating.”
Labour has called on authorities to look into claims of high levels of “family voting” after election observer group Democracy Volunteers claimed to have witnessed the illegal practice, where two voters confer, collude or direct each other on who they will vote for.
But the by-election’s acting returning officer said polling station staff were trained to look for undue influence on voters, and insisted “no such issues” had been reported during polling hours.
A Labour insider told Middle East Eye the party “didn’t shortlist a single local Muslim candidate.
“Then they noticed Muslims abandoned Labour in droves and called it sectarianism and family voting.
“Typical dog-whistle, we’re used to it by now.”
The Muslim Vote campaign group said: “Blaming ‘family voting’ is irresponsible and insulting. For decades, so-called bloc votes were welcomed when they benefited Labour.”
The group added: “The real story tonight is that young Muslims and wider voters are breaking from transactional politics and embracing democratic accountability – registering, organising and participating fully in public life.”
Meanwhile, Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, appears to have deleted a post yesterday in which he celebrated a post saying: “Just took 93yr mum to vote, she’s registered blind. In a very loud voice, she said, ‘Which box for Reform?’ A cheer went up from waiting voters.”
“Love this!” Yusuf replied.
The original post appears to have been a joke.