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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Shabana Mahmood vows to stick with hardline migration policies after byelection defeat

Home secretary will defy ‘plain wrong’ calls from unions and leftwing MPs that she is alienating Muslim voters Shabana Mahmood will press on with hardline immigration policies despite calls for a reversal from unions and left-leaning Labour MPs after the Green party’s byelection victory. Senior Labour sources insisted that the home secretary would continue to roll out changes to asylum policy, dismissing as “plain wrong” claims that it would further alienate Muslim voters. Continue reading...

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Green party’s Gorton and Denton win is wake-up call Labour needed to hear

Labour billed it as ‘two-horse race’ with Reform UK, but Greens’ media campaign, and Hannah Spencer’s authenticity, won the day From the outset of the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour strategists were desperate to say the party was on course to win, but the party’s trouncing at the hands of the Greens has made this look laughable in hindsight. Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary, sent a note to No 10 at the end of January saying it was “clearly a two-horse race” with Reform UK, and onl

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

The Guardian view on Gorton and Denton: a warning shot across Labour’s bows | Editorial

Hannah Spencer’s win was more than protest. It signalled that Labour’s moral language and coalition are up for grabs in its safest terrain The Greens have every reason to celebrate their victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection. From a standing start in a Manchester constituency, Zack Polanski’s team tripled his party’s vote to capture a seat that had effectively voted Labour in every election but one since 1906 – the year Labour was born. Labour coming third behind Reform UK is not routine m

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Labour MPs demand Starmer change direction after humiliating byelection loss

The Green candidate, Hannah Spencer, overturned a 13,000 Labour majority to win the Gorton and Denton seat Keir Starmer is facing an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or see a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labour with a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton. Overturning a 13,000 Labour majority from the general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, became the party’s fifth MP on Friday. Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Martin Rowson on the Greens’ victory in Gorton and Denton – cartoon

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Greens win Gorton and Denton: is this a turning point for UK politics? – The Latest

The Green Party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gordon and Denton byelection in a major blow to Keir Starmer. Hannah Spencer, a local plumber, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England, with Labour pushed into third place behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK despite having a 13,000-vote majority. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s north of England correspondent Hannah Al-Othman, who lives in the constituency and was at the count overnight – watch on YouTube Continue reading..

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

No more safe seats: the Greens take Gorton and Denton – podcast

In a stunning setback for Labour, the Green party has decisively won the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Reform UK finishing second. Does this result signal the end of Labour’s safe seats? And could it mark the beginning of the end for Keir Starmer? John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey unpack the fallout – and explore what might happen next Continue reading...

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Spencer’s victory speech an object lesson in grace while Reform’s man rages | John Crace

Matt Goodwin claimed cheating, Labour’s Gorton candidate quickly fled, Keir was tin-eared and Kemi brought the comedy It could have been a flash of arrogance. Hubris for the ages. On Thursday morning, at a time when most pundits were still calling the Gorton and Denton byelection a three-way fight that was impossible to call, the Green party sent out a note to journalists. Come along to the first press conference of Hannah Spencer MP tomorrow. And while you’re about it, stay on to join her for h

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Making a statement, Hannah Spencer’s ‘gross green’ is a political and TikTok winner

Green party’s victorious Gorton and Denton byelection candidate taps into the colour meme of the moment with her chartreuse waistcoat UK politics live – latest updates Of course the Green candidate wore green, though the correct term – the 2026 TikTok one – is “gross green”. Coined by New York magazine, and seen all over the high street as well as on the cover of Caro Claire Burke’s forthcoming satirical novel Yesteryear, it’s actually chartreuse. But where’s the fun in calling it that? And it

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Five key takeaways from the Gorton and Denton byelection

The night saw a big win for the Greens, disappointment for Reform and landmark losses for Labour and the Tories The Greens have pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Labour and the leadership of Keir Starmer. Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority, while Reform UK finished second and Labour came third in the tightly cont

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

‘We defeated the parties of billionaire donors’: Hannah Spencer’s victory speech

‘We don’t have to fight dirty to fight for change,’ said Green party’s new MP after Gorton and Denton byelection win UK politics live – latest updates Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, has been elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority in the Gorton and Denton byelection. Here is her victory speech: I didn’t grow up wanting to be a politician. I’m a plumber. And two weeks ago, during all this, I also qualified

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

I saw how the Greens channelled voters’ anger – and fused it with hope. That’s why they won in Gorton and Denton | Owen Jones

Starmer called the byelection a battle for the nation’s soul. This result shows Labour has lost that – and I think it will lose much more It wasn’t even close. The scale of victory of the Green party’s Hannah Spencer in Gorton and Denton changes everything. For years, British politics has oscillated between snuffing out hope and stoking fear. The main parties converged around an economic model that irretrievably broke in the crash of 2008, then encouraged understandably furious voters to blame f

PoliticsEconomyEnvironment