Green Party Defeats Labour in U.K. Special Election, in Blow to Starmer

The result marks the first time the Greens have won a British parliamentary by-election and signals the frustration of left-leaning voters with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Green Party won a special election on Thursday for a seat in Britain’s parliament near Manchester, England, where left-leaning voters sent Prime Minister Keir Starmer a searing message of dissatisfaction, demanding a more progressive government.

Hannah Spencer, 34, a member of the area’s local council and a plumber by trade, won the seat in a district called Gorton and Denton, outside of Manchester, England, with 14,980 votes, or about 40 percent of the vote, according to results announced early on Friday morning by election officials.

Mr. Starmer had argued that only his Labour Party was positioned to stop the rise of Reform U.K., a right-wing populist party that campaigns against immigration and has led national polls consistently for almost a year. In Parliament on Wednesday, Mr. Starmer said that “anybody who wants to stand against that hatred and division should vote Labour.”

But more progressive voters appeared to have ignored that appeal by supporting Ms. Spencer, a charismatic candidate who brought social media savvy and energy to the Green campaign.

Her victory, buoyed by progressive and Muslim voters who have called for greater support for Palestinians in Gaza, was another blow to Mr. Starmer, whose sagging popularity is seen by many members of his party as a drag on its ability to win re-election.

With just one seat up for grabs, special elections rarely change parliamentary math in a significant way. But the outcome can send shock waves through politics, destabilizing losing parties and galvanizing the winners.

The result matters for Mr. Starmer’s party because the communities of Gorton and Denton, southeast of Manchester, have been Labour strongholds for decades. Filled with a mixture of working-class voters, students and university graduates, and home to a large ethnic-minority population, they are the kind of places that helped make him prime minister in 2024.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Related Content