The Green Party has won the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Hannah Spencer has become the party’s fifth MP in parliament, after beating Reform UK, who finished second, and Labour, who came third, to the seat.

The Greens, who had earlier said they were “very confident of a win”, received 14,980 votes to claim a majority of more than 4,400 votes.

Reform picked up 10,578 votes, while Labour received 9,364 votes.

It is the Greens’ first-ever victory in a parliamentary by-election, and the first time the party has won a seat in the north of England.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Spencer said she “knew it was always possible” for the Greens to win in Gorton and Denton.

“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,” she said.

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The turnout for the vote was 47.6% of the electorate – slightly lower than the 47.8% at the 2024 general election – on a day that official election observer group Democracy Volunteers says it witnessed record numbers of illegal “family voting”.

Family voting is where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting, which is illegal under the 2023 Ballot Secrecy Act.

Final vote tally

  • Green Party – 14,980
  • Reform UK – 10,578
  • Labour Party – 9,364
  • Conservative Party – 706
  • Liberal Democrats – 653
  • Monster Raving Loony Party – 159
  • Advance UK – 154
  • Rejoin EU Party – 98
  • Libertarian Party – 47
  • Social Democratic Party – 46
  • Communist League – 29

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s immigration policies have been cited by some in Labour as a key reason for the party’s loss of a seat it has historically held.

The by-election had been triggered by the resignation of former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, who stepped down on health grounds.

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