By JAMIE BULLEN, LIVE COVERAGE EDITOR and GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Updated:
The Greens are today celebrating their first ever victory in a UK by-election as the party stunned Labour and Reform to take the Gorton and Denton seat in Greater Manchester.
Hannah Spencer won the vote after securing 14,980 ballots, more than 4,000 ahead of her nearest challenger Reform’s Matt Goodwin.
Ms Spencer’s victory piles fresh misery onto Keir Starmer who insisted only Labour could defeat Nigel Farage’s Reform in the run-up to yesterday’s by-election.
The Greens’ victory at Gorton and Denton represents the sixth largest Labour majority to be overturned at a by-election since the Second World War.
Reacting to his party’s defeat, Nigel Farage claimed there had been ‘cheating’ after official observers raised the alarm about ‘family voting’ – a major breach of electoral law.
Family voting is where a voter is accompanied by another person into or near polling booths with the intention of influencing their vote.
The Reform UK leader posted on X: ‘This election was a victory for sectarian voting and cheating. Matt Goodwin was a great candidate for us. Roll on the elections on May 7th. It will be goodbye Starmer and goodbye to the Tory party.’
Follow all the latest political reaction from the Gordon and Denton by-election
Full result in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Here is the full result of the by-election as 11 candidates took part in the vote.
The Green’s Hannah Spencer won by 4,402 ballots in a near 12% vote swing from Labour to Green
Hannah Spencer (Green) – 14,980
Matt Goodwin (Reform) – 10,578
Angeliki Stogia (Lab) – 9,364
Charlotte Cadden (Conservative) – 706
Jackie Pearcey (Lib Dem) – 653
Sir Oink A-Lot (Loony) – 159
Nick Buckley (Advance UK) – 154
Joseph O’Meachair (Rejoin) – 98
Dan Clarke (Libertarian) – 47
Sebastian Moore (Soc Dem) – 46
Hugo Wils (Comm Lge) 29
Green maj 4,402 (11.96%)
Electorate 77,501; Turnout 36,814 (47.50%)
Greens pull off historic victory in Gorton and Denton by-election
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Gorton and Denton by-election result where the Greens have stunned Labour and Reform by pulling off a historic victory.
Zack Polanski’s party are today celebrating their first ever win in a by-election as plumber Hannah Spencer stormed to victory with nearly 15,000 votes.
Her triumph will spell major problems for Keir Starmer as Labour faces the local elections in May.
While Nigel Farage’s Reform have also been left disappointed after an attempt to build further momentum was prevented.
Stick with us as we bring you all the latest reaction and fallout from the vote which has sparked a bitter war of words between the parties.
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Greens seismic win in Gorton and Denton by-election is ‘victory for cheating’, claims Nigel Farage: Live updates and reaction